Daniel George Ballard (born 22 September 1999) is a 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 ...

who plays for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Born in England, he represents

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

at international level.

Club career

Arsenal

Born in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Ste ...

, Ballard joined the Arsenal Academy at the age of eight. He signed his first professional contract in June 2018.

Loan to Swindon Town

Ballard moved on loan from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

in July 2019. He made his debut in a 2–0 win against

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

in the

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

on 3 August 2019, coming off the bench in the 88th minute. He then scored his first career goal in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL ...

tie against Chelsea U21s on 6 August 2019. But his loan spell was cut short after just three appearances due to a severe knee injury that required 5 months of recovery time.

Loan to Blackpool

In October 2020, he moved on loan to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

, signing with the club until January 2021. Ballard made his debut in a 1–0 loss against

Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...

in League One on 20 October. On 5 January 2021, it was announced that the loan had been extended to the end of the season. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Crewe Alexandra on 2 March 2021.

Loan to Millwall

He moved on loan to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

on 1 July 2021. He scored his first goal for the club when he scored against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

on 11 September 2021 in a 1–1 draw.

Sunderland

On 30 June 2022, Ballard joined newly promoted Championship club

for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract. On 16 September 2023, Ballard scored his first goal for Sunderland in a 3–1 win against QPR.

International career

Born in England, Ballard qualifies to represent

as his mother was born there. He has represented Northern Ireland at Under-18 and Under-21 levels. He was called up to the senior team for the first time in March 2019. He made his senior debut in a 1–1 draw against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

in a Nations League game in September 2020. In September 2023, Ballard was injured and ruled out of Euros qualifying matches.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ballard goal.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Daniel 1999 births Living people Footballers from Stevenage Men's association football defenders Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's international footballers Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers English men's footballers English people of Northern Ireland descent Arsenal F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players English Football League players