Born on this day is former Sunderland captain Kevin Ball. The tough-tackling midfielder is a legend on Wearside, racking up over 300 league appearances for the lads.
Ball began his career at Coventry, but didn’t make a first-team appearance before joining Portsmouth. At Pompey, Ball was given a second chance to prove himself and fought for his place at Fratton Park. He made his debut at just 17 years old, appearing at right-back in a 2-0 defeat at Shrewsbury.
Bally cemented his place in the first team, becoming somewhat of a cult hero in defence at Fratton Park. He’d played over 100 games for Portsmouth when Sunderland came calling in 1990, managed by Denis Smith and operating on a bit of a shoestring budget. During his lengthy spell on Wearside, Ball played in the 1992 FA Cup final, where we lost to Liverpool.
Sunderland were relegated in Ball’s first season at the club, but he quickly became a fan favourite despite the club floundering in Division Two for a while. As well as appearing in the cup final, the combative midfielder led us to Premier League promotion on two separate occasions; once in 1996, and again in 1999.
Bally left Sunderland in 1999 after winning promotion, joining Burnley where he spent two seasons before retiring. After a short spell away from football, the former club captain returned to Sunderland as Assistant Academy Coach, before taking over as caretaker manager in 2006 when Mick McCarthy was sacked.
Despite showing an interest in the job on a permanent basis, new chairman Niall Quinn wanted a big name in charge so opted for Roy Keane instead. Ball returned to his role in the academy, but in 2013 became caretaker again following the sacking of Martin O’Neill. He was a frontrunner to get the job full-time before it was ultimately given to the controversial Paolo Di Canio.
Kevin Ball won Supporters’ Player of the Year on four occasions, racking up almost 400 appearances in red and white. He remains a club legend on Wearside and is credited with helping develop players such as England internationals Jordan Pickford and Jordan Henderson.
