Ray Ball is a former 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 Richmond

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 and South Melbourne

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 in the Victorian 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...

 (VFL).

Ball was a fullback, who came to Richmond from Ballarat and made six appearances early in the 1969 VFL season

1969 VFL season

-Premiership season:In 1969, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man...

. He didn't play again for the rest of the year and missed out on participating in Richmond's premiership team. After playing only six more games in 1970, Ball crossed to South Melbourne but struggled with injury in his first season with the club. He was a regular fixture in the South Melbourne side in 1972 and 1973, playing 16 games in each season.

Once his time at South Melbourne had come to an end, Ball continued his football career in the Victorian Football Association

Victorian Football League

The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...

, where he played for Caulfield

Caulfield Football Club

Caulfield Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1965 until 1987. Nicknamed The Bears, they were based in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield and wore a blue and white guernsey.-History:...

. Later, in 1979, he coached Mulgrave to a Eastern Districts Football League

Eastern Football League (Australia)

The Eastern Football League is an Australian rules football League, based in the eastern suburbs of metropolitan Melbourne....

 premiership. Ball then joined the coaching staff at Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

 and was put in charge of their Under-19s team in 1981. He also served as an assistant coach with the Sydney Swans

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

.

Two sons, Luke

Luke Ball

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

 and Matthew Ball

Matthew Ball

Matthew Ball is an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Australian Football League .Ball is the elder brother of Collingwood premiership player Luke Ball and the son of former VFL footballer Ray Ball....

, both played in the Australian Football League.