James Alan Ball (born 1975) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who is the manager of

AFC Totton Amalgamated Football Club Totton is a football club based in Totton, Hampshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Hampshire Football Association and is an FA Standard Chartered club. They are currently members of the and play at the Test ...

. Previously Ball had been employed with

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

as an under-18 team coach and interim manager of the first team.

Playing career

Ball was a youth player at

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 ...

and

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, ...

during his father's managerial stints at the clubs. Ball later played senior football for BAT Sports.

Coaching career

Following his playing spell, Ball moved into coaching, coaching at

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and Winchester City. In 2014, following coaching spells at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and Irish club Shelbourne, Ball moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, to coach Puget Sound Gunners. Ball later returned to England, coaching in the academies at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. On 11 April 2021, following the sacking of Mark Cooper and whilst working as the club's under-18 manager, Ball was appointed interim manager of

until the end of the 2020–21 season. After having narrowly missed out on promotion to League One through the playoffs, Rob Edwards was appointed head coach, and Ball went back to coach the under-18s team. He left the club with mutual consent in September 2021. Ball was appointed first-team coach at League Two club

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a 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, Stevenage w ...

on 4 January 2022. In March 2022, Ball was appointed as manager of

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

side

. In January 2024, he was linked to a return to former club Forest Green Rovers.

Personal life

Ball is the son of former

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever ...

winner

Alan Ball Jr. Alan James Ball (12 May 1945 – 25 April 2007) was an English professional football player and manager. Often regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, he won the 1966 World Cup with England and played for various clubs, scor ...

and the grandson of Alan Ball Sr. All three family members have managed in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

Managerial statistics

References

1970s births Living people English football coaches English football managers Totton & Eling F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Forest Green Rovers F.C. managers English Football League managers Portsmouth F.C. non-playing staff Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Forest Green Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Stevenage F.C. non-playing staff English men's footballers Men's association football players not categorized by position A.F.C. Totton managers Place of birth missing (living people)

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

Association football coaches {{England-footy-manager-stub