John Thomas Ball (13 September 1907 – 1976) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, who played as a forward. Born in

Banks, Lancashire Banks is a large coastal village in Lancashire, England, south of the Ribble estuary four miles (6 km) north-east of Southport. The village is administered by West Lancashire Borough and North Meols Parish Council. It is in the South Rib ...

, he played for clubs including

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. He joined

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire ...

from Newtown United in 1925, scoring 10 goals in 18 appearances, including a debut hat-trick in a 5–1 win over Macclesfield on 31 October 1925, before moving to

for the 1926–27 season. He then moved to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

before in 1929 moving to

. He moved from Manchester United to Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1930, and made his Wednesday debut on 8 September. He played in Sheffield Wednesday's 2–1 defeat by Arsenal in the Charity Shield at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

in October 1930. Ball scored 94 goals in just 135 matches with the Sheffield club, before returning to Manchester United in December 1933. In September 1934, he moved to Huddersfield Town, but he moved on to Luton Town after only a month. He had a short spell in France as a coach with Excelsior Roubaix after his playing career was finished and briefly managed St Albans City and

Biggleswade Town Biggleswade Town Football Club is a football club based in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Langford Road. History The club were established in 1874 as Biggleswade, later becoming known as ...

after the Second World War.

References

* 1907 births 1976 deaths Footballers from Southport English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Manchester United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Southport F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Chorley F.C. players St Albans City F.C. managers {{England-footy-forward-1900s-stub