Keith Ball (born 26 October 1940) is an English former

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 ...

. He was a short but agile

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who made 145 league and cup appearances for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

and enjoyed three spells with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

. He also played non-league football for

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

, Stourport,

Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Wednesbury and Willenhall. Topography Darlaston is situated between Wednesbury and Walsall in the valley of the Riv ...

, Nuneaton Borough, and Kidderminster Harriers. He was a squad player as Walsall won back-to-back promotions in 1959–60 and 1960–61, and was an ever-present for Port Vale as they won promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1968–69.

Career

Ball began his career at hometown club

, as the "Saddlers" posted a sixth-place finish in the Fourth Division in 1958–59. Bill Moore's side then went on to win the divisional title in 1959–60, before winning a second successive promotion with a second-place finish in the Third Division in 1960–61. The

Fellows Park Fellows Park was a football stadium in Walsall, England. It was the home ground of Walsall F.C. from 1896 until 1990, when the team moved to the Bescot Stadium. Fellows Park was situated about a quarter of a mile away from the club's present ...

outfit then settled in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

with a 14th-place finish in 1961–62. Having only featured in 11 league games, Ball was allowed to join Southern League side

. City finished one point above the relegation zone in the 1962–63 campaign, before rising to 13th place in 1963–64 and then third place in 1964–65, before dropping to eighth position in 1965–66. Ball returned to Walsall, now managed by Ray Shaw, to play 34 Third Division games in the 1966–67 and 1967–68 campaigns. He was bought by

Gordon Lee Gordon Lee may refer to: *Gordon Lee (comic store owner) (1958–2013), American comic book store owner charged with distributing obscene materials *Gordon Lee (congressman) (1859–1927), U.S. congressman from Georgia *Gordon Lee (footballer) (193 ...

in November 1968 for 'a small fee', to replace the injured Stuart Sharratt. He was immediately the first choice keeper for the "Valiants" after being preferred ahead of Milija Aleksic. Ball played 38 matches in the 1968–69 season and played all 52 matches in the 1969–70 Fourth Division promotion winning campaign. He made 30 appearances in the 1970–71 season and 35 appearances in the 1971–72 season, as Sharrat battled to win back his first team place. Ball was given a free transfer in May 1972, as experienced Bolton Wanderers stopper

Alan Boswell Alan Henry Boswell (8 August 1943 – 24 August 2017) was an English football goalkeeper who made 479 league and cup appearances in a 12-year career in the English Football League. He began his career at Walsall in 1961, before moving on to Shr ...

was signed to take over goalkeeping duties at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

. He moved on to Stourport before making another return to Walsall. He played two Third Division games under the stewardship of John Smith in the 1972–73 season, before moving into non-league football with

, Nuneaton Borough and Kidderminster Harriers.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Walsall * Football League Fourth Division: 1959–60 *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

second-place promotion: 1960–61 Port Vale * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1968–69

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Keith 1940 births Living people Sportspeople from Walsall English footballers Association football goalkeepers Walsall F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Stourport Swifts F.C. players Darlaston Town F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players