Dominic Ballard (born 1 April 2005) is 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 lea ...

who plays as a forward for club

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Early life

Ballard spent the formative years of his childhood living in Greece, before his family moved back to England in 2010 and settled in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. When he was first invited to train at

, Ballard and his parents would commute to the south coast a couple of times a week.

Club career

Southampton

Ballard signed his first professional contract with Southampton in April 2022. On 23 August 2022, he made his senior debut and scored his first goal for Southampton's first team in a 3–0 victory against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. On 21 May 2023, Ballard made his

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

debut in a 3–1 defeat to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, replacing

Joe Aribo Joseph Oluwaseyi Temitope Ayodele-Aribo (born 21 July 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Southampton and the Nigeria national team. He began his club career at Staines Town then spent four years with Charl ...

in the 70th minute. On 27 June 2023, Ballard signed a two-year contract extension until 2026.

Reading (loan)

On 1 September 2023, Ballard joined League One side

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on a season-long loan. He made his debut for the club on 16 September 2023 in a 2–1 victory against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. On 19 September 2023, Ballard scored a brace during a 0–9 victory against

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

. He scored his first league goal for the club on 3 October 2023 in a 3–1 defeat to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. During a 1–2 victory against

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

on 25 November 2023, Ballard was forced off in the first half after suffering a leg injury from a fall. Three days later, head coach

Rubén Sellés Rubén Sellés Salvador (born 15 June 1983) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager who is the manager of club Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. Sellés has also managed Southampton F.C., Southampton ...

confirmed that Ballard would be out for the season after snapping his

patellar tendon The patellar tendon is the distal portion of the common tendon of the quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tibial tuberosity. It is also sometimes called the patellar ligament as it forms a bone to bone connection whe ...

Blackpool (loan)

On 13 August 2024, Ballard joined League One side

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on a season-long loan. He made his debut for the club on 17 August 2024 in a 3–0 home defeat against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

after he replaced

Ashley Fletcher Ashley Michael Fletcher (born 2 October 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Blackpool. Fletcher began his professional career at Manchester United, having previously played at Bolton Wanderers during hi ...

in the 72nd minute. On 24 August 2024, Ballard scored his first goal for the club in a 4–4 draw with Cambridge United. He suffered a shoulder injury during a 2–0 victory against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

on 24 September 2024, with head coach

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

later confirming Ballard was expected to be sidelined for several weeks. On 3 January 2025, he was recalled from loan and returned to Southampton.

Cambridge United (loan)

On 27 January 2025, Ballard joined League One side Cambridge United on loan for the remainder of the 2024–25 season. He made his debut for the club on 28 January 2025 in a 2–1 defeat against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

after he replaced Josh Stokes in the 67th minute. On 11 March 2025, Ballard scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 defeat against Blackpool.

International career

Having previously represented England U17s, Ballard made his U18 debut during a 1–0 win over the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in Pinatar on 21 September 2022. On 6 September 2023, Ballard made his England U19 debut during a 1–0 defeat to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Oliva Oliva (, ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' of Safor in the Valencia (autonomous community), Valencian Community, Spain. To its east lie of coastline and beaches fronting t ...

. On 6 September 2023, Ballard made a goalscoring

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...

debut during a 1–1 draw away to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Dom 2005 births Living people English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Southampton F.C. players Reading F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Footballers from Guildford 21st-century English sportsmen