Alan Ball is one of two truly great footballers to have played for Everton and was a complete one-off, according to his former midfield colleague Colin Harvey. Along with the Blues' most-successful manager Howard Kendall, Ball and Harvey were immortalised in a statue of 'The Holy Trinity' – the club's most-celebrated midfield trio – unveiled outside St Luke's Church in the shadow of Goodison Park in 2019.
Harvey's Tribute to Ball
Harvey, who made 388 appearances for his boyhood team, scoring 24 times before serving them as a coach and manager, said in 2022: 'Alan was a complete one-off. I've never seen anyone like him since and I don't think there was anyone like him before.' He added: 'In my mind there were two great players who played for Everton and by that I mean really great. One was Dixie Dean, who I never saw play, but if you look at his goalscoring record, it's absolutely amazing, and then the other one was Alan Ball.'
Ball's Impact at Everton
Everton paid a record £112,000 to Blackpool for Ball – a record fee paid to an English club at the time – in the month following his man-of-the-match display for England in their 4-2 win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final. The timing of the transfer later amused Kendall, who joined the Blues from Blackpool's neighbours Preston North End the following March to complete the trio. Harvey said: 'It was a bit of a joke from Howard about Harry Cooke. He said: "He's a really good scout, he spotted Alan Ball playing in the World Cup final!"'
Ball's World Cup Final Performance
At just 21, Ball was the youngest member of manager Alf Ramsey's side. His energetic display on the stamina-sapping Wembley turf, when teammates and opponents alike were out on their feet, remains one of the most remarkable aspects of the game. Ball both won and took the corner-kick that led to Martin Peters' goal and supplied the cross for Geoff Hurst's controversial second in extra-time. Harvey said: 'I watched it back a couple of times and while Geoff Hurst of course scored a hat-trick, Alan was still the man of the match in the eyes of many people, he ran himself into the ground.'
Ball's Arrival at Everton
Harvey recalled that Everton didn't make their move for Ball until over a fortnight after the World Cup final, following a Merseyside derby disappointment in the Charity Shield. He said: 'We played Liverpool in the Charity Shield at Goodison when we displayed the FA Cup and they had the league championship trophy while Ray Wilson ran around the pitch with Roger Hunt, carrying the World Cup. Liverpool only beat us 1-0 but they absolutely murdered us, if it had been 5-0 it would have been about right.'
'The following Monday, Harry Catterick went out and signed Alan Ball from Blackpool. We played again a fortnight later in the First Division and the difference was Ball as he scored two goals and we won 3-1, he was absolutely magnificent.'
Ball's Playing Style
Harvey described Ball's style: 'Howard and I were a bit more defensive and Alan could just go off and do his thing. At that time he was the best in the world for doing it, he was like a bolt of lightning. He'd get fouled, he'd put himself on the ball and go again. It was impossible for the opposition to keep up with him.'
'The minute he walked into the place, it was just such a lift as he was a World Cup winner. He set the bar so high, we all had to work so hard to try and get to it. We never did but it made us all better players because of him. You had to strive to be that much better – I know I did – even though I never got to be anywhere near as good as him.'
