Edgar Albert Ballard (16 June 1920 – 10 June 2008) was an English professional

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 full-back for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in the late 1940s/early 1950s.

Playing career

Ballard was born in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and spent the war years working in a munitions factory in

Hayes, Middlesex Hayes is a town in west London, historically situated within the county of Middlesex, and now part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The town's population, including its localities Hayes End, Harlington and Yeading, was recorded as 83,564 i ...

. His birthplace was only 50 yards from

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

and he made one wartime appearance before signing as a professional for Leyton Orient in April 1946. He spent the 1946–47 season playing for Orient in the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

before moving to The Dell in June 1947, with Bill Stroud moving in the opposite direction. He made his debut for

at home to West Ham United on 31 January 1948, replacing the injured

Joe Mallett Joseph Mallett (8 January 1916 – 8 February 2004) was an English professional footballer who spent much of his early playing career at Queens Park Rangers and subsequently at Southampton (playing as a wing half). He later became a coach, manag ...

at centre half. After a run of eight games, he lost his place and spent the next season in the reserves. In 1949–50 and 1950–51 he made occasional starts, covering for

Bill Ellerington William Ellerington (30 June 1923 – 4 April 2015) was an English footballer who was capped twice for the full England national team and once for England B, and spent his entire professional club career at Southampton F.C. Born in Southam ...

at right-back and either Bill Rochford or

Norman Kirkman Norman Kirkman (6 June 1920 – 17 November 1995) was an English footballer who played as a full-back for various clubs in the Football League in the 1940s and 1950s, before a brief career as a manager. Football career Playing career Kir ...

at left-back. Unable to make either position his own, he was given a free transfer in August 1952, returning to Leyton Orient. At Orient he failed to break into the first team and in 1953 joined Snowdown Colliery Welfare in the Kent League for three seasons. He then had spells as manager with Ashford Town and Hastings United.

Personal life

Ballard was brother in law of former footballer John Moore. He became manager of the Clarence

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

for a few years before becoming a franchising officer for

Green Shield Stamps Green Shield Stamps was a British sales promotion scheme that rewarded shoppers with stamps that could be used to buy gifts from a catalogue or from any affiliated retailer. The scheme was introduced in 1958 by Richard Tompkins, who had no ...

during the 1970s. He spent his retirement in

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origina ...

and died in June 2008, one week short of his 88th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Ted 1920 births Footballers from Brentford 2008 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Brentford F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Southampton F.C. players English Football League players Snowdown Colliery Welfare F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Hastings United F.C. (1948) managers Ashford United F.C. managers English football managers