In Memory of The Greatest

Brian used to write to the Everton website GrandOldTeam under the name of 'letterkenny', which was where he came from. He was 53 years of age. Andy Crooks might know a bit about him.

If only we had someone today who hated losing as much as he did.

I will also never forget the yellow Ford Anglia that he drove.

Pick your Alternate Holy Trinity from these 6. They were all kicking a ball somewhere in 1964... different stages of their careers it's true...I mean Bobby Collins was Footballer of the Year in 1965, when it still meant something.
But jeez, so near and yet so far. What a selection dilemma that would've have been.

Ball, Collins, Gabriel, Harvey, Kay, Kendall.

It would take a very brave man!

Today, the game would be abandoned as we wouldn't have enough men on the pitch.

I reckon the 4 would be off within the first 10 minutes – if that!

Mogsy was crafty enough to do it when the ref wasn't looking.

One the first games I ever saw involved 5ft-3in Bobby Collins squaring up to some monster WBA player in the classic Fat Harold 'do you want to see me?' Mode... the player, quite wisely declined.

Collins was of the era and he wouldn't have looked out of place in that magnificent Hungarian team of the 50s.

Kay may well have been a world cup winner, not Stiles... fine margins

But skill, they all had skill in abundance, yet never gave into the darkside unlike those gobshites Giles and Bremner.

An eloquent testimony to the great man. Like yourself, I was a teenage season ticket holder in the '60s and following his transfer from Blackpool in 1966 the team was transformed. We all enjoyed the four best seasons of that enthusiastic Ball of energy.

Following the Championship win in 1970, Ball and three others from the team played in the Mexico World Cup Finals. They all returned drained. Ball had also picked up a niggling and long-term injury. For some time, he sought to make light of the situation, a reflection perhaps of his stoic determination to succeed.

The burden of captaincy was another problem he preferred not to address or acknowledge. Sadly it all caught up with him; energy gone, mobility not quite so good, and frustration with his form and that of others. The apparent lack of a working relationship with former captain Brian Labone may also have contributed.

I don't think his situation and indeed that of other team members was helped by Catterick's failure to anticipate the need to reinforce the Championship squad with some younger talented players during the summer of 1970. A quiet word with Ball his new captain and the three other players would have helped sort out the emerging problems. But that was not his style.

I was completely gutted when it was announced that Alan Ball had been sold to Arsenal. Having researched my article, Decline and Fall, it made me realise that here was a player who should have been treasured and given some careful guidance to help him through his difficulties, for the sake of the team and the club. Instead, he almost became the scapegoat for Catterick's failings, notwithstanding his poor health.

Despite all that, I retain many wonderful memories of stellar performances from Alan Ball and indeed the rest of the team. If only the present bunch of overpaid players throughout the Premier League had his enthusiasm, determination, skills and will to win.

Thanks once again for an excellent piece.

Alasdair

Alan wasn't having a good season himself and his will to win was getting to him and affecting his game alongside his volatile temperament. In one game versus Newcastle, can't be sure it was the same season to be honest, Howard Kendall pulled him away from arguing with the referee, twice, before the referee had taken enough and sent him off. Howard later secured the win with a 20-yard effort.

I loved Alan Ball as much as any Evertonian, how could you not applaud and take delight in his brilliant football ability? But he wasn't perfect and had his faults, just like most people, and the season he was sold showed those faults quite a lot.

I didn't agree with Alan being sold. Goodison Road, on the Saturday after he was sold, was a scene of vast mourning... nobody could believe it. Later on, it became apparent that he was never properly replaced, his loss was magnified and he was very much missed. I don't think he helped the situation at the time, even though the transfer shocked and upset Alan Ball himself.

I saw Wayne put in one of the best one-man performances I have seen at home against Bolton when he was untouchable and the great Campo was torn apart by him – how Wayne failed to score at least one that day was a mystery.

I beg to differ on which was the best but can you imagine how they would have played together at their peak?

Anyway, Bally's place in the pantheon is absolutely assured. I love it that his family come back regularly and are (I think?) serious Blues.

Thanks again for the article mate, proper old Blues stuff.

As to a comparative player, surely Best from the same era, and same part of the field, and my favourite non-Everton player.

Was that Newcastle game the one when tubes of "Score" hair oil were handed out free before the game and Jim Isley was kicking chunks out of Ball (and almost anything else that moved) but allowed by the ref to get away with it. Ironically, the bald-headed Isley was showered with them as he made his way off at half-time.

It was made even more miserable when this red-haired kid in an Orange shirt who the locals called The Little General totally dominated a lacklustre Everton.

To cap off the whole sodden affair, Harry Catterick slipped on a wet pavement, resulting in the disgusting sensationalist media labelling our supporters as thugs for tripping him up.

I wished that red-haired kid with a squeaky voice was in our side.

Some interesting points above. Whilst I can't comment too much on Ball the player, some of the traits discussed seemed to have come out later on in Ball the Manager. Frustration with players not being able to follow his instructions. Temper coming to the fore and even claims from players that he used to threaten to show them his World Cup winners medal if they didn't think he knew what he was talking about.

That's not being critical of Ball, it's to draw out a point I was leading into. Great players often struggle if players around them can't meet their standards. They struggle even more in management or with the burden of responsibility; they just want to be able to do their thing. I think Gullit was similar. They often can't explain or demonstrate to players what they want them to do as it is natural to them. Not every case, but generally, the greatest players do not make the greatest managers or leaders on the pitch or in the dugout.

Bally was my big brother's hero growing up. Saw him play at Goodison when he was playing for Southampton and his one and two touch passing was different class. Wish I could have seen him play in a Blue shirt from 1966-1970.