Ball, Kevin

Kevin Ball

Clubs played for: Coventry City, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Fulham, Burnley (1981-2002)

Born: 1964

Birthplace: Hastings

Position: Defender/midfielder

Biography: in the summer of 1982 whilst still only 17. It was January 1984 when he made the breakthrough into the first team, appearing at right back in a 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury. That was his only appearance in that season but did establish himself in the first team and had made well over a century of appearances when he made the move to Sunderland in 1990. He appeared in their FA Cup Final side of 1992 and led them to two promotions into the Premier League, in 1996 and then again in 1999. His playing days came to an end in 2002 when he was released by Burnley. After a short spell out of the game he returned to join the coaching staff at Sunderland at a time when Howard Wilkinson and Steve Cotterill were in charge of the team. He was appointed as assistant academy coach and briefly took over as manager following the sacking of Mick McCarthy. Bally returned to the ‘Academy of Light’ and also acts as an ambassador for the club.

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Ball, Kevin Can't remember the opposition, but I remember being at a Burnley game when the opposition brought on a very young substitute, whose first mark on the game was to commit a horrendous tackle on Kevin Ball. It seemed like the entire Longside took a sharp intake of breath, followed by, in unison, the Burnley support started singing 'Bally's gonna get yer', as if conducted to by a band leader.