Alan Ball Jr.: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added
Luna Santin (talk | contribs)
m Reverted edits by 194.83.245.252 (talk) to last version by MartinBot
Line 69:
He left Southampton in October 1982 to play for [[Hong Kong]] side [[Eastern AA|Eastern Athletic]], before joining [[Bristol Rovers F.C.|Bristol Rovers]] in January 1983, where he ended his playing days. He played 975 competitive matches in his 21-year career.
 
hahaha ya wolly BATTY BOY 4 LIFE
==International Career==
 
===1966 World Cup===
 
Despite being in a struggling Blackpool team, Ball's industry, stamina and distribution were noticed by England manager [[Alf Ramsey]], who gave him his international debut on [[May 9]], [[1965]] in a 1-1 draw with [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]] in [[Belgrade]], three days before his twentieth birthday. Ramsey was preparing for the World Cup a year later, which England was to host, and was developing a system whereby England could deploy midfielders with a defensive and industrious bent, something which was not wholly guaranteed from conventional wide men. As a result, Ball became a useful tool for Ramsey to use - able to play conventionally wide or in the centre but still in possession of the energy to help out his defence when required.
 
Ball was the youngest member of the squad of 22 selected by Ramsey for the tournament, aged only 21. Though England as a team emerged collectively heroic from the tournament, Ball was one of many players regarded as an individual success, especially as he was one of the more inexperienced charges with no proven record at the very highest level. Indeed, he, [[Geoff Hurst]] and [[Martin Peters]] emerged with enormous credit and eternal acclaim from the competition - and all of them were still only in single figures for caps won by the time they were named in the team for the final against [[West Germany national football team|West Germany]].
 
The 100,000 crowd at [[Wembley Stadium (1924)|Wembley]] witnessed a magnificent personal performance from Ball. Full of running, he continued to work and sprint and track back while team-mates and opponents alike were out on their feet. With fewer than 15 minutes to go, he won a corner on the right which he promptly took. Hurst hit a shot from the edge of the area which deflected into the air and down on to the instep of Peters, who rifled England 2-1 ahead. The Germans equalised with seconds to go, meaning that the game went into extra time. Somehow, this instilled extra bounce into Ball's play and the image of his continuous running round the Wembley pitch, socks round his [[ankle]]s, is one of the most enduring of the occasion. It was his chase and low cross which set up Hurst's massively controversial second goal, and England's third; he was also sprinting upfield, unmarked and screaming for a pass, as Hurst took the ball forward to smash his historic [[hat-trick]] goal with the last kick of the game.
 
===1970 World Cup===
 
By now, Ball was one of the first names on Ramsey's England teamsheet and he was in the squad which travelled as defending champions to the [[altitude]] of [[Mexico]] for the [[Football World Cup 1970|1970 World Cup]]. Ball famously hit the crossbar with a shot as England lost one of their group games 1-0 to [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]], one of six strikingly prominent incidents from a fabulous game (the others being [[Jairzinho]]'s goal; [[Jeff Astle]]'s miss; [[Gordon Banks]]' save from [[Pelé]]; [[Bobby Moore]]'s impeccable tackle on Jairzinho; and the sight of Pelé and Moore's mutual smiles of respect at the end as they exchanged shirts). England won their other group games and progressed to another showdown with West Germany in the quarter finals, but the heat sapped Ball's natural industry. England lost a 2-0 lead and their reign as world champions ended with a 3-2 reverse.
 
===1974 World Cup===
 
In 1973, Ball became only the second England player to be [[Misconduct (football)|sent off]] in a full international, reacting with fury to violent tactics by [[Poland national football team|Poland]] in a qualifier for the [[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974 World Cup]] in [[Chorzow]]. As a result, he missed the return game at [[Wembley Stadium (1924)|Wembley Stadium]] which became one of the most notorious in English football history - a 1-1 draw in which England were kept out largely thanks to Polish goalkeeper [[Jan Tomaszewski]]. England failed to qualify for the World Cup as a result.
 
===Captaincy and the End===
 
Ramsey was sacked and [[Joe Mercer]] took over at a caretaker level, for whom Ball never appeared due to injury. However, Ball's relationship with his national side was enhanced and then soured beyond repair when [[Don Revie]] was appointed as Ramsey's permanent replacement. Ball was given the captaincy after the dropping of [[Emlyn Hughes]] and held it for six consecutive games, none of which England lost, and included a 5-1 defeat of [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] in May 1975.
 
Then suddenly, Ball was not called up at all, let alone retained as captain, when Revie announced his squad for a game against [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]] three months later. Ball only found out when his wife took a call from a [[journalist]] asking for her reaction.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} Aged 30, Ball's international career had ended suddenly and acrimoniously after 72 appearances and eight goals.
 
==Coaching and Managerial Career==