Season 2001-2002

Michael Ball, hitherto renowned Evertonian (in much the same way as Francis Jeffers), is no longer an Everton player after he put pen to paper on a transfer to Rangers for a fee of between £6.5m or £7m, there doesn't seem to be much consensus as to the actual amount involved.

The 21 year-old defender was reportedly in tears as he drove away from Bellefield this afternoon for the final time after saying farewell to his now-former Everton team-mates.

Ball agreed personal terms and passed a medical at Ibrox Park and, after taking advice from former Rangers star Paul Gascoigne and deciding not to confer with England boss Sven Goran Eriksson, he is likely to be unveiled by the Scottish Premier League giants tomorrow.

Ball may have been emotional upon his departure from the club he has supported since childhood, but he seems to have forgotten that it was he and his agent and tarnished Goodison hero Trevor Steven who approached the club in the wake of the failed offer to Jeffers about a new contract with two years of his current deal still to run.

Everton apparently offered to double his salary and throw in added benefits but this was not enough for Ball who, on the back of less than a season of form worthy of the terms he was seelking, wanted to be paid the same amount as the top earners at Goodison Park. Some say this was not an unreasonanble request, especially given the fact that Jeffers (two years younger than Ball) was offered more to tempt him to stay. However, given Ball's erratic form since breaking through to the first team in 1997 and the need to draw the line to prevent a spate of new contract demands, the club stood firm.

Most Evertonians expected Ball to be an Everton captain of the future. A boyhood Blue who famously trained in his Everton shirt during his time in the Liverpool youth ranks and painted an Everton crest on the side of his house, Ball claims he expected to stay at the club for many years to come but felt unwanted by the club when they accepted Rangers' offer.

"It was a sad moment for me as I'd been at the club since I was 14 and never expected to leave," he said. "The tears were on their way and I didn't want my friends to see me like that so I cut my goodbyes short and got in my car.

"I have always said I would stay for as long as Everton wanted me and when they accepted the bid from Rangers I realised I was no longer wanted. I was hurt that they wanted to let me go and surprised I didn't get a call from manager Walter Smith or the owner Bill Kenwright about it."

"I was being linked with a lot of clubs but was keen to see the squad numbers for this season to see what plans they had for me. When I was handed the number 12 again that gave me an idea, but I don't blame the club for selling me. They've got a decent fee and can now buy players they need to reinforce other areas."

by Lyndon Lloyd