Keith Ball (26 October 1940 – 5 July 2023) was an English

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 played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

. He made 145 league and cup appearances for Port Vale and enjoyed three spells with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

. He also played

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English Association football, football club based in Worcester, England, Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. ...

Stourport Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, 4 miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2021 cens ...

Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Bilston, Walsall, Wednesbury, Willenhall and Tipton. It was historically part of Staffordshire. Topography Darlaston i ...

, Nuneaton Borough, and Kidderminster Harriers. He was a squad player as Walsall won back-to-back

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

s 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.

Early life

Keith Ball was born on 26 October 1940 in

. He attended football games at

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 ...

as a boy and played as an outside-left for his youth club. He was signed by Walsall in 1955 after being

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

ed by Peter McSevitch.

Career

Ball made his first-team debut for Walsall on 17 March 1959, deputising for John Savage, 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

with a second-place finish in the Third Division in 1960–61. Ball served as an understudy to John Christie. Walsall settled in the Second Division with a 14th-place finish in 1961–62. Having only featured in 11 league games, Ball was allowed to join Southern League side

as Walsall had a new understudy in Alan Boswell. City finished one point above the

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

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. He was signed by Bill Jones and played alongside Peter McParland and

Norman Deeley Norman Victor Deeley (30 November 1933 – 7 September 2007) was an English professional Association football, footballer, who spent the majority of his league career with Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhampton Wanderers. He scored two goal ...

. Ball returned to Walsall for a fee of £1,500, now managed by Ray Shaw, to play 34 Third Division games in the 1966–67 and 1967–68 campaigns. He was primarily an understudy to Terry Carling before playing ahead of the experienced Bob Wesson after Carling moved on to Chester City and before Wesson won a first-team place. Ball was bought by Gordon Lee's Port Vale in November 1968 for 'a small fee', to replace the injured

Stuart Sharratt Stuart Edgar Sharratt (born 26 February 1942) is an English former football goalkeeper who made 152 league and cup appearances for Port Vale between 1966 and 1972. He previously played for West Bromwich Albion, Nantwich Town, and Oswestry To ...

. 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 Sharratt battled to win back his first-team place. Ball was given a free transfer in May 1972, as experienced

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 ...

stopper Alan Boswell was signed to take over goalkeeping duties at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

. He moved on to

before making another return to Walsall. He played two Third Division games under the stewardship of John Smith in the 1972–73 season, a campaign in which Walsall used seven different goalkeepers, before moving into

with

, Nuneaton Borough and Kidderminster Harriers.

Death

Ball died in July 2023 at the age of 82.

Career statistics

Honours

Walsall *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

: 1959–60 Port Vale *

fourth-place promotion: 1968–69

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Keith 1940 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Walsall English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Southern Football League players 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 Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players