Manchester City Ball spent his early childhood with Prestwich Marauders, before he joined the
youth system at
Manchester City at the age of seven. He battled back from a foot injury at the end of his teenage years. A star of the youth and reserve sides he scored in the 2008 final of the
FA Youth Cup, which City won, and was joint-fifth top-scorer in the
2008–09 Premier Reserve League and joint-second top-scorer in the
2009–10 Premier Reserve League. He was named as City's Academy Player of the Month for December 2007 and Reserve team Player of the Month for February 2008. He made it onto the first-team bench only once, though this was for the famous
Manchester derby game on 20 September 2009 where City
lost 4–3 to
Manchester United at
Old Trafford. He was loaned out to
League One club
Swindon Town in July 2010 for six months, in order to gain first team experience. This came despite interest from other clubs. He made his
league debut at the
County Ground on 7 August 2010, in a 2–1 defeat to
Brighton & Hove Albion, but was
replaced by
Alan O'Brien after sixty minutes for tactical reasons. He was initially played out of position in
midfield by manager
Danny Wilson and then spent time on the substitutes bench before taking an injured
Charlie Austin's place up front in October. He scored a brace eleven days later in a 5–4 defeat at
Peterborough United. He was then benched in favour of Charlie Austin and
Vincent Péricard, returning to the
City of Manchester Stadium in January after scoring a total of three goals in nine starts and 12 substitute appearances for Swindon.
Peterborough United Ball signed a -year deal for
Darren Ferguson's Peterborough United on 31 January 2011 after being bought for an undisclosed transfer fee. He scored five goals in 21 appearances for "Posh" in the second half of the
2010–11 season, and was a stoppage-time substitute for
Lee Tomlin in the
League One play-off final as United secured promotion into the
Championship with a 3–0 victory over
Huddersfield Town. He was partnered with Tomlin following the sale of
Craig Mackail-Smith to Brighton at the start of the
2011–12 season. However Ball returned to League One on loan at
Rochdale on 31 August after Peterborough signed
Emile Sinclair from
Macclesfield Town. He scored four goals in eight games for the "Dale", which led to him being recalled to
London Road on 10 October to compete with
Paul Taylor and Emile Sinclair for a starting place in the absence of
Nicky Ajose (loaned out) and Lee Tomlin (injured). Ball made just five substitute appearances however, and returned to Rochdale on loan on 24 November. His second loan spell at Rochdale was not as successful as his first spell as he failed to find the net in seven games and manager
Steve Eyre was sacked. He was put on the transfer-list at Peterborough in April 2012.
Fleetwood Town On 23 July 2012, Ball signed for newly promoted
League Two side
Fleetwood Town on a three-year deal. He started the
2012–13 season playing out of position until manager
Micky Mellon was replaced by
Graham Alexander in December. On 29 March 2015, he scored a goal that was a described as a "spectacular lob" and an "exquisite chip" to secure a 1–1 draw with
Preston North End at
Highbury Stadium, which later saw him nominated for the
FIFA Puskás Award; this made him only the second Englishman to be nominated for the award, after
Wayne Rooney in 2011. He scored eight goals in 30 League One games for the "Fishermen" during the
2014–15 campaign. In August 2015, Ball signed a new two-year contract with Fleetwood. He was limited to five goals in 42 matches in the
2015–16 season, before hitting a career-high 14 goals from 55 matches in the
2016–17 season. He left the "Trawlermen" after rejecting manager
Uwe Rösler's new contract offer.
Rotherham United On 22 June 2017, Ball signed for
Rotherham United on a two-year deal; he said he was persuaded to come to the
New York Stadium after hearing manager
Paul Warne's ambitious plans. He scored his first goal for Rotherham in an EFL Trophy tie against Manchester City Under-23s on 15 August 2017. He finished the
2017–18 season with nine goals in 38 games for the "Millers" and helped the club to win promotion despite missing a penalty during the 2–1 extra-time win over
Shrewsbury Town in the
League One play-off final. On 3 September 2018,
Bradford City confirmed the signing of Ball until the end of the
2018–19 season, in a deal that was signed on the loan deadline of 31 August. The deal was confirmed just hours before manager
Michael Collins was sacked. He scored his first goal for Bradford in an EFL Trophy tie against
Barnsley on 13 November. In December 2018 he was praised by City teammate
Hope Akpan, and in May 2019 he was credited by "Bantams" manager
Gary Bowyer for helping
Lewis O'Brien to develop as a young player. On returning from his loan at
Valley Parade, Ball was released by Rotherham at the end of his contract.
Wellington Phoenix On 12 July 2019,
Wellington Phoenix announced that Ball had signed a two-year contract with the club. He extended his contract for a further 2 years in 2022, with hopes to become a New Zealand citizen and play for
New Zealand internationally in 2024, when he has lived in NZ for 5 years.
Wellington Phoenix Reserves On 28 September 2024, Ball captained the
Wellington Phoenix Reserves in their first
New Zealand National League match of the year. Few weeks later, Ball scored his first goal in the National League against
Birkenhead United on 27 October.
Radcliffe FC In March 2025, Ball joined
Radcliffe until the end of the season. ==Career statistics==