Dominic Ball

Dominic Martin Ball (born 2 August 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays for Ipswich Town. He plays primarily as a defensive midfielder but can also play as a centre-back or at full-back.

Dominic Ball
Personal information
Full name Dominic Martin Ball[1]
Date of birth (1995-08-02) 2 August 1995[2]
Place of birth Welwyn Garden City, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.84 m)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Ipswich Town
Number 12
Youth career
Watford
2011–2013 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0)
2015 → Cambridge United (loan) 11 (0)
2015–2016 → Rangers (loan) 21 (0)
2016–2019 Rotherham United 13 (0)
2017 → Peterborough United (loan) 6 (1)
2017–2019 → Aberdeen (loan) 47 (0)
2019–2022 Queens Park Rangers 90 (3)
2022– Ipswich Town 18 (0)
International career
2010 Northern Ireland U15 1 (0)
2010–2011 Northern Ireland U16 9 (1)
2011–2012 Northern Ireland U17 8 (2)
2012 Northern Ireland U19 4 (4)
2013 Northern Ireland U21 2 (0)
2014 England U19 1 (0)
2014–2015 England U20 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:05, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Tottenham and loan moves

A Tottenham Hotspur youth graduate, he joined the club's youth setup in 2011 from Watford[3] and appeared in 17 matches during his first campaign, scoring one goal.[4]

Ball appeared with the under-18s and with the under-21s in 2013–14, and was also named on the bench in a 2–2 UEFA Europa League away draw against Benfica on 20 March 2014.[5] He was also an unused substitute in two further matches for Spurs in 2014–15, a 1–0 home win against Partizan and a 2–1 away win against Hull City.

On 22 January 2015, Ball was loaned to League Two side Cambridge United until the end of the season.[6] He made his professional debut five days later, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Dagenham & Redbridge.[7] He was used mainly as a right-back, making two assists in his time at the club.[8][9]

On 14 August 2015, Ball signed a season-long loan deal with Scottish Championship club Rangers, reuniting with his Watford academy manager Mark Warburton.[3] At Rangers, he helped them return to the Scottish Premiership as they won the Championship and also picked up honours when they won the Scottish Challenge Cup.[10]

Rotherham United

On 12 August 2016, Ball signed for Championship side Rotherham United on a three-year deal.[11] He was released from his contract at the end of the 2018–19 season, having spent all but five months of his three-year deal out on loan.[12]

Peterborough United loan

On 3 January 2017, Ball joined Peterborough United on loan until the end of the season. He scored his first goal for Peterborough against Shrewsbury on the 14th of February.[13] The loan ended early on 2 March 2017, after Ball had a disagreement with staff at Peterborough United.[14]

Aberdeen loan

On 31 August 2017, Ball moved on loan to Aberdeen until the end of the season.[15][16] He joined again for a second season-long loan spell on 18 July 2018.[17]

Queens Park Rangers

Ball signed a two-year deal with Queens Park Rangers on 2 July 2019 upon expiry of his Rotherham United contract.[18]

Ipswich Town

Ball joined Ipswich Town on 1 June 2022 on a two-year deal after the expiration of his contract with Queens Park Rangers.[19] In November 2022, a ruptured meniscus ruled Ball out for a large part of the 2022–23 season.[20]

International career

After being capped by Northern Ireland in the under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19, and under-21 levels, Ball switched his allegiance to England in 2013.[4] He has represented England up to U-20 level, making six appearances at that level.

Personal life

Ball was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Ball has an older brother, Matt, who is also a footballer, while his father Tim was academy business manager at Watford.[21] Ball graduated from the Open University in 2021 with a degree in business studies, having studied part-time for six years.[22]

In April 2022, Ball released a book called From Winning Teams to Broken Dreams about the football academy system in England. All proceeds from the book go the charity Sarcoma UK.[23]

Career statistics
As of match played 26 September 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Tottenham Hotspur 2014–15[24] Premier League 0000000000
2015–16[25] Premier League 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Cambridge United (loan) 2014–15[24] League Two 110000000110
Rangers (loan) 2015–16[25] Scottish Championship 21050103[lower-alpha 1]0300
Rotherham United 2016–17[26] Championship 1300000—130
2017–18[27] League One 0000101[lower-alpha 2]020
2018–19[28] Championship 000000—00
Total 130001010150
Peterborough United (loan) 2016–17[26] League One 6100000061
Aberdeen (loan) 2017–18[27] Scottish Premiership 160201000190
Aberdeen (loan) 2018–19[28] Scottish Premiership 31030402[lower-alpha 3]0400
Queens Park Rangers 2019–20[29] Championship 3112020—351
2020–21[30] Championship 3911010—411
2021–22[31] Championship 2011020—231
Total 903405000993
Ipswich Town 2022–23[32] League One 16010002[lower-alpha 2]1191
2023–24[33] Championship 200030—30
Total 180103021241
Career Total 1974140140812445
  1. Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup
  2. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Rangers

Aberdeen

Ipswich Town

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Queens Park Rangers" (PDF). English Football League. p. 58. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  2. "Dominic Ball". 11v11. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. McCarthy, David (15 August 2015). "Rangers boss Mark Warburton set to seal third loan signing as Ibrox men miss out on Scott Allan". Daily Record. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. "Dominic Ball". Tottenham Hotspur FC. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  5. "Benfica squeeze past valiant Spurs". UEFA.com. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  6. "Spurs youngster joins U's". Cambridge United FC. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  7. "Cambridge 1–1 Dagenham & Redbridge". BBC Sport. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  8. "Cambridge United vs. Mansfield Town - 18 April 2015 - Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  9. "Cheltenham Town vs. Cambridge United - 14 April 2015 - Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  10. English, Tom (10 April 2016). "Rangers 4–0 Peterhead". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  11. "Ball rolls into Rotherham". Rotherham United F.C. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  12. "Rotherham United: Jon Taylor & Ryan Williams among five players in talks with Millers". BBC Sport. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  13. "Ball makes Peterborough Switch". Rotherham United F.C. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  14. "Dominic Ball: Rotherham United defender leaves Peterborough loan after 'disagreement'". BBC Sport. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  15. "Dominic Ball joins The Dons on loan". Aberdeen F.C. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  16. Gilfeather, Frank (9 September 2017). "Aberdeen new boy Dominic Ball insists Scottish top flight is a step up from the English Championship". Daily Record. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  17. "Ball Rejoins On Season Long Loan". Aberdeen F.C. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  18. "QPR complete signing of Dominic Ball". QPR Official Site. 2 July 2019.
  19. "Ball is a Blue". Ipswich Town F.C. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  20. "Dominic Ball: Ipswich Town midfielder set to miss rest of season with knee injury". BBC Sport. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  21. Green, Chris (2009). Every Boy's Dream. Bloomsbury. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-4081-1216-8.
  22. Louis, Nathan (14 April 2021). "QPR footballer Dominic Ball graduates from the Open University". Watford Observer. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  23. "'I was numb': the pain of release by an academy and what football can learn". The Guardian. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  24. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  25. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  26. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  27. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  28. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  29. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  30. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  31. "Dominic Ball | Football Stats | Queen's Park Rangers | Season 2021/2022 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  32. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  33. "Games played by Dominic Ball in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  34. "Rangers 1-0 Dumbarton". BBC Sport. 5 April 2016.
  35. "Rangers 2-3 Hibernian". BBC Sport. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  36. "Celtic 1-0 Aberdeen". BBC Sport. 2 December 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  37. "Fleetwood Town 2 - 2 Ipswich Town". BBC Sport. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
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