# Keith Ball

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For the mathematician, see [Keith Martin Ball](/source/Keith_Martin_Ball).

**Keith Ball** (26 October 1940 – 5 July 2023) was an English [footballer](/source/Association_football) who played as a [goalkeeper](/source/Goalkeeper_(association_football)). He made 145 league and cup appearances for [Port Vale](/source/Port_Vale_F.C.) and enjoyed three spells with [Walsall](/source/Walsall_F.C.). He also played [non-League football](/source/Non-League_football) for [Worcester City](/source/Worcester_City_F.C.), [Stourport](/source/Stourport_Swifts_F.C.), [Darlaston](/source/Darlaston_Town_F.C.), [Nuneaton Borough](/source/Nuneaton_Borough_F.C.), and [Kidderminster Harriers](/source/Kidderminster_Harriers_F.C.). He was a squad player as Walsall won back-to-back [promotions](/source/Promotion_and_relegation) in 1959–60 and 1960–61, and was an ever-present for Port Vale as they won promotion out of the [Fourth Division](/source/Football_League_Fourth_Division) in 1968–69.

## Early life

Keith Ball was born on 26 October 1940 in [Walsall](/source/Walsall).[1][3] He attended football games at [Walsall](/source/Walsall_F.C.)'s [Fellows Park](/source/Fellows_Park) as a boy and played as an [outside-left](/source/Forward_(association_football)#Outside_forward) for his youth club.[4] He was signed by Walsall in 1955 after being [scouted](/source/Scout_(association_football)) by Peter McSevitch.[4]

## Career

Ball made his first-team debut for Walsall on 17 March 1959, deputising for [John Savage](/source/John_Savage_(footballer)), as the "Saddlers" posted a sixth-place finish in the [Fourth Division](/source/Football_League_Fourth_Division) in [1958–59](/source/1958%E2%80%9359_Football_League).[4] [Bill Moore](/source/Bill_Moore_(footballer,_born_1913))'s side then went on to win the divisional title in [1959–60](/source/1959%E2%80%9360_Football_League), before winning a second-successive [promotion](/source/Promotion_and_relegation) with a second-place finish in the [Third Division](/source/Football_League_Third_Division) in [1960–61](/source/1960%E2%80%9361_Football_League). Ball served as an understudy to [John Christie](/source/John_Christie_(footballer,_born_1929)).[4] Walsall settled in the [Second Division](/source/Football_League_Second_Division) with a 14th-place finish in [1961–62](/source/1961%E2%80%9362_Football_League). Having only featured in 11 league games, Ball was allowed to join [Southern League](/source/Southern_Football_League) side [Worcester City](/source/Worcester_City_F.C.) as Walsall had a new understudy in [Alan Boswell](/source/Alan_Boswell).[4] City finished one point above the [relegation](/source/Promotion_and_relegation) zone in the [1962–63](/source/1962%E2%80%9363_Southern_Football_League) campaign, before rising to 13th place in [1963–64](/source/1963%E2%80%9364_Southern_Football_League) and then third place in [1964–65](/source/1964%E2%80%9365_Southern_Football_League), before dropping to eighth position in [1965–66](/source/1965%E2%80%9366_Southern_Football_League). He was signed by Bill Jones and played alongside [Peter McParland](/source/Peter_McParland) and [Norman Deeley](/source/Norman_Deeley).[4] Ball returned to Walsall for a fee of £1,500, now managed by [Ray Shaw](/source/Ray_Shaw_(association_footballer)), to play 34 Third Division games in the [1966–67](/source/1966%E2%80%9367_Football_League) and [1967–68](/source/1967%E2%80%9368_Football_League) campaigns. He was primarily an understudy to [Terry Carling](/source/Terry_Carling) before playing ahead of the experienced [Bob Wesson](/source/Bob_Wesson) after Carling moved on to [Chester City](/source/Chester_City_F.C.) and before Wesson won a first-team place.[4]

Ball was bought by [Gordon Lee](/source/Gordon_Lee_(footballer))'s [Port Vale](/source/Port_Vale_F.C.) in November 1968 for 'a small fee', to replace the injured [Stuart Sharratt](/source/Stuart_Sharratt).[1] He was immediately the first-choice keeper for the "Valiants" after being preferred ahead of [Milija Aleksic](/source/Milija_Aleksic).[1] Ball played 38 matches in the [1968–69](/source/1968%E2%80%9369_Port_Vale_F.C._season) season and played all 52 matches in the [1969–70](/source/1969%E2%80%9370_Port_Vale_F.C._season) Fourth Division promotion-winning campaign.[1] He made 30 appearances in the [1970–71](/source/1970%E2%80%9371_Port_Vale_F.C._season) season and 35 appearances in the [1971–72](/source/1971%E2%80%9372_Port_Vale_F.C._season) season, as Sharratt battled to win back his first-team place.[1] Ball was given a [free transfer](/source/Free_transfer_(association_football)) in May 1972, as experienced [Bolton Wanderers](/source/Bolton_Wanderers_F.C.) stopper Alan Boswell was signed to take over goalkeeping duties at [Vale Park](/source/Vale_Park).[1] He moved on to [Stourport](/source/Stourport_Swifts_F.C.) before making another return to Walsall. He played two [Third Division](/source/Football_League_Third_Division) games under the stewardship of [John Smith](/source/John_Smith_(footballer,_born_1939)) in the [1972–73](/source/1972%E2%80%9373_Football_League) season, a campaign in which Walsall used seven different goalkeepers, before moving into [non-League football](/source/Non-League_football) with [Darlaston](/source/Darlaston_Town_F.C.), [Nuneaton Borough](/source/Nuneaton_Borough_F.C.) and [Kidderminster Harriers](/source/Kidderminster_Harriers_F.C.).[4]

## Death

Ball died in July 2023 at the age of 82.[3]

## Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[5] Club Season League FA Cup Other Total Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Walsall 1958–59 Second Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1959–60 Fourth Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1960–61 Third Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1961–62 Second Division 5 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 Total 11 0 0 0 1 0 12 0 Walsall 1966–67 Third Division 15 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 1967–68 Third Division 19 0 0 0 2 0 21 0 Total 34 0 0 0 2 0 36 0 Port Vale 1968–69 Fourth Division 25 0 3 0 0 0 28 0 1969–70 Fourth Division 46 0 5 0 1 0 52 0 1970–71 Third Division 28 0 1 0 1 0 30 0 1971–72 Third Division 31 0 3 0 1 0 35 0 Total 130 0 12 0 3 0 145 0 Walsall 1980–81 Third Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0

## Honours

**Walsall**

- [Football League Fourth Division](/source/Football_League_Fourth_Division): [1959–60](/source/1959%E2%80%9360_Football_League)

**Port Vale**

- [Football League Fourth Division](/source/Football_League_Fourth_Division) fourth-place promotion: [1968–69](/source/1968%E2%80%9369_Port_Vale_F.C._season)[6]

## References

1. Kent, Jeff (1996). *Port Vale Personalities*. Witan Books. p. 15. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

1. [*Rothmans football yearbook. 1971-72*](https://archive.org/details/rothmansfootball0000unse_g4f5/page/344/mode/2up). London : Queen Anne Press. 1972. ISBN 978-0362000948. Retrieved 5 August 2025.

1. ["Keith Ball"](https://www.bescotbanter.net/2023/07/keith-ball.html). *bescotbanter.net*. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.

1. ["Years Gone By – Keith Ball"](https://walsall.vitalfootball.co.uk/years-gone-by-keith-ball/). *Vital Walsall*. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2023.

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Surviving on a Shoestring (1969–1979)". *The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale*. Witan Books. pp. 227–257. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Keith Ball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ball) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ball?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.