Michael Ball (footballer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Michael Ball | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael John Ball | |
| Date of birth | 2 October 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |
| Playing position | Left-back | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1996–2001 2001–2005 2005–2007 2007–2009 |
Everton Rangers PSV Eindhoven Manchester City |
121 (8) 55 (1) 11 (0) 48 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2001 | England | 1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Michael John Ball (born 2 October 1979 in Liverpool, Merseyside) is an English professional footballer who is currently a free agent having previously played as a left-back for English Premier League team Manchester City.
Ball started his professional career at Everton, making his debut as a 17 year old in 1997. In 2001 he was capped by England, though he has not represented his country since. In the 2001 close season he joined Rangers in a £6.5m transfer. In December 2001 he suffered a knee ligament injury which took 18 months to heal. In the 2004-05 season, Ball won League Championship and League Cup medals with Rangers, but at the end of the season was sold to PSV Eindhoven for a nominal fee. Ball was signed by world renowned manager Guus Hiddink spending a successful one and a half seasons at PSV winning the Dutch Eredivisie as well as runner up in the KNVB Cup. The departure of Guus Hiddink to manage the Russian National side and arrival of Ronald Koeman as the replacement signalled the sale of Michael to Manchester City.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Everton
As a schoolboy Ball was part of the Liverpool youth system, playing alongside Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.[1] From 1994-1996 he attended the FA's National School at Lilleshall, before joining Everton.[2] He played his first senior match in April 1997 as a substitute against Tottenham, and made his first start a week later at West Ham.[3] Ball developed into an impressive player equally adept at both centre back and his main position, left back. His solid performances for Everton led to an England National Football Team call-up to Sven-Göran Eriksson's first England squad for a friendly against Spain in February 2001. Ball was named as a substitute, and made his debut when he replaced Chris Powell at half-time.[4]
[edit] Rangers
In 2001 he was allowed to leave Everton, primarily due to the club's financial problems. Although he had offers from the Premiership, he opted for a lucrative deal with Scottish SPL club Rangers and moved to Glasgow in a £6.5m deal. His first Old Firm match ended in controversy when he swore at Rangers manager Dick Advocaat after being substituted, resulting in a £10,000 fine.[5] In December 2001, after his eleventh Rangers appearance, he suffered medial ligament damage which kept him side-lined for 18 months, including the entire 2002-03 season. Upon his return to fitness he regained his place in the team, becoming a first team regular in the 2003-04 season. Also getting player of the month award in his first month back.
Ball's transfer to Rangers included installments payable after fixed numbers of appearances. As Ball approached 60 appearances Rangers became reluctant to play him, as doing so would trigger a £500,000 payment to Everton.[6] As a result, Ball played only four matches in the first four months of the 2004-05 season. The scenario was eventually resolved in December 2004 when negotiations involving the player and the two clubs reached an undisclosed agreement.[7] With the contractual wrangling resolved, Ball returned to the first team, and won Scottish league cup medal an SPL league winners medal as Rangers won the 2004-05 title.
[edit] PSV Eindhoven
In the 2005 close season, Rangers wished to remove the higher earners from their wage bill, so Ball moved to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven for a fee of £500,000, signing a two year contract. As he played so well in all 11 games he played for PSV, Stuart Pearce bought him to Manchester City.
[edit] Manchester City
He joined Manchester City on 31 January 2007 after impressing on a week long trial, on a 6-month contract for a nominal fee. He made his debut ten days later against Portsmouth, and scored his first goal for the club in an FA Cup 5th Round match against Preston North End on 18 February. He is often used as third choice captain, if Richard Dunne (Captain) and Micah Richards (Vice Captain) are unavailable. He will not be offered a new deal unfortunately at the end of season, Mark Hughes has said.
On 5 May 2007, whilst playing with Manchester City in the Manchester Derby at City of Manchester Stadium, Ball injured Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo by stamping on Ronaldo's stomach on purpose; however the referee and his assistants did not see the incident. The F.A. then launched an investigation into the incident, with Ball subsequently admitting the assault on Ronaldo; as a result Ball was banned for numerous games that season.[citation needed]
On 24 August 2008, Ball took the captain's armband in the 46th minute after stand in captain Richards was knocked out in a challenge with a team mate and substituted during a game against West Ham United. City went on to score three goals and win the game 3-0.
At the end of January 2009 Ball had an knee operation on his left patella tendon, will be out of action for 7-12 months.
On 1 July 2009, he was released by Manchester City as his contract expired.[8]
[edit] International career
In February 2001 he was capped by England in a friendly against Spain, though he has not represented his country since.
[edit] Career statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1996-97 | Everton | Premier League | 5 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1997-98 | 25 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 1998-99 | 37 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 1999-00 | 25 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2000-01 | 29 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Scotland | League | Scottish Cup | Scottish League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2001-02 | Rangers | SPL | 8 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2002-03 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2003-04 | 32 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2004-05 | 15 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2005-06 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Netherlands | League | KNVB Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2005-06 | PSV Eindhoven | Eredivisie | 12 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2006-07 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2006-07 | Manchester City | Premier League | 12 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2007-08 | 27 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2008-09 | ||||||||||||
| Total | England | 160 | 8 | |||||||||
| Scotland | 57 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Netherlands | 12 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Career Total | 229 | 10 | ||||||||||
[edit] References
- ^ "I won't be a one-cap wonder". The FA. 2003-04-16. http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2003/04/45300.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Having a Ball in Holland". Daily Telegraph. 2004-10-07. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/04/09/sfnpb109.xml. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Michael Ball". ToffeeWeb. http://www.toffeeweb.com/players/past/Ball.asp. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Sven's England off to winning start". BBC. 2001-02-28. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/1190940.stm. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Ball & pain; Michael Grant speaks to the forgotten Rangers defender". Sunday Herald. 2002-10-13. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20021013/ai_n12580407. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Ball remains in Ibrox limbo". BBC. 2004-10-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/3724572.stm. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Ball gets all-clear to stay at Rangers". The Scotsman. 2004-12-31. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=1477262004. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Man City allow quartet to leave". BBC Sport. 2009-07-1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/8129371.stm. Retrieved on 2009-07-1.
