Matthew Ball is an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Hawthorn

Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

 in the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (AFL).

Ball is the elder brother of Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

 premiership player Luke Ball

Luke Ball

Luke Patrick Ball is a professional Australian rules football player currently playing for in the Australian Football League....

 and the son of former VFL footballer Ray Ball

Ray Ball (footballer)

Ray Ball is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Richmond and South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....

.

An Ashburton junior, he was picked up by Hawthorn in the 2000 rookie draft but would be delisted without playing a senior game. After winning the Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest

Best and Fairest is the term commonly used in Australian sport to describe the player adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition while not receiving a suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.In the...

 award at Box Hill in 2003, he was given a second chance by Hawthorn when they selected him at pick 51 in the end of year national draft

2003 AFL Draft

The 2003 AFL Draft was the 2003 instance of the AFL Draft, the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League...

. Ball played 13 AFL games in the 2004 season

2004 AFL season

Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 2004.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Wizard Home Loans Cup:The Wizard Home Loans Cup Final saw St...

, averaging 12 disposals. For the next two seasons he was only able make another four appearances and spent most of his time with Box Hill, where he won another "Best and Fairest" in 2006. He finished his league career with 17 games, from which he experienced just one win.

He has since played in the Victorian Amateur Football Association

Victorian Amateur Football Association

The Victorian Amateur Football Association is an Australian rules football league in Victoria, Australia consisting purely of amateur players. Unlike the Victorian Football League and the VFL/AFL, the VAFA has always been strictly a purely amateur league and has affiliations with both AFL Victoria...

 and captained Old Xaverians

Old Xaverians Football Club

The Old Xaverians Football Club was established in 1923 by alumni of Jesuit school Xavier College in Melbourne, Australia. The club is one of Australia's most successful in the Victorian Amateur Football Association....

to a premiership in 2010.