“Alan Ball told me that Everton will always be his team,” revealed BBC Radio Merseyside’s Mike Hughes.
The club legend, who died of a heart attack at the age of 61, joined Everton from Blackpool in August 1966 for a then British-record transfer fee, shortly after winning the World Cup with England.
The central midfielder made 248 appearances and scored 78 goals over a five-year stint with the Toffees.
Speaking about Ball on BBC Radio Merseyside, Hughes said: “An awful lot of Evertonians from a certain era say that Alan Ball is the best player they have ever seen in a royal blue jersey.
“He was an absolute game-changer from Everton’s perspective. I remember speaking to Colin Harvey and he remembered the exact day Ball signed.
“He impressed straightaway on the pitches at Bellefield, and indoors in the famous training ground gym. Harvey said his control and use of the ball, including his first-time passes, made the players think: ‘My goodness, we’re going to have to lift ourselves here. We have to be better to be like this guy’.
“He was what all great players are – he wasn’t just great individually, he also made the players around him better.”
On Arsenal paying a record fee to poach Ball from Everton in December 1971, Hughes added: “It was totally out of the blue, so much so the fans were rocked by it and couldn’t really believe it.
“Having won the title in 1969-70, Everton were expected to dominate English football for years to come. But, the following season they came 16th and that decline continued – and then, all of a sudden, Ball’s move to Arsenal came about.
“He has since made it clear that he never wanted to leave Everton. Everton boss Harry Catterick had told him a team had come in for him, it was good business, he was doubling his money and football is a business.
“Ball was stunned by it. He spoke to his dad, who said: ‘If Everton don’t want you, go to a club that does want you’ – and Arsenal wanted him. Nevertheless, Ball told me that Everton will always be his team – and I really believed that.
“He really was a big-game player. He made everyone else better, he lifted the standards, he turned Everton from being a very good team into a great one. He was a phenomenal footballing figure.”
Listen to the full Alan Ball conversation – plus a chat around Leighton Baines – on BBC Sounds
