Happy 25th birthday to Sunderland defender Dan Ballard, who signed in summer 2022 and has never looked back.
Dan came through Arsenal’s youth ranks but never played a game for their senior team, instead making a name for himself through various EFL loan spells. After a brief stint at Swindon, he went on loan to Blackpool in 2020/21 where he won promotion from League One (alongside Elliot Embleton). The loan was actually only until January of that season, but in that transfer window the deal was extended until the end of the year.
With a promotion under his belt, Ballard then joined Millwall on loan. Looking at his physique he’s the perfect Millwall defender - absolutely massive and just willing to win headers all day long. He became a real fan favourite at The Den, and Millwall fans were gutted when we pipped them to his permanent signing.
We signed him from the Gunners on a three-year contract, and Arsenal fans were actually disappointed because they believed Ballard had a future as a Premier League centre-half. He made his debut for us in the first game of the season against Coventry and did start well until sustaining an injury at home to QPR in early August. That game was frustrating from start to finish: an early Ballard injury, their player choking Gooch and not being sent off, then scoring a free kick, then of course their keeper scored a last minute equaliser.
That injury kept him out for a long chunk of the season (19 games) but came back against Hull in December 2022 and slipped straight back into the starting XI. He would be an unsung hero for us at the back, forming a formidable partnership with Danny Batth, but sadly missed our play-off run-in due to a hamstring injury. Of course, that left us exposed against Luton with one of the smallest backlines the EFL has ever seen - Hume, O’Nien and Gooch in a back three.
Last season he played 44 times in all competitions and scored three and this season has come straight back into the side after missing the first few fixtures due to injury. He's also very clearly one of Northern Ireland's best players and works well with Trai Hume in defence. He's netted twice for them in 2024 so far, against Spain and Luxembourg.
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