Earlier than there was Wembley and Trai Hume, Eliezer Mayenda and Tommy Watson, there was one superb, never-to-be-forgotten evening on the Stadium of Mild — and I’m positive you’ve replayed the second I’m speaking about in your head a thousand instances.
After two and three-quarter video games of full-blooded playoff soccer, the Sunderland/Coventry Metropolis scoreline is stage on mixture, penalties are looming and the nerves of 40,000 house supporters are shredded.
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With the clock just about ticking right down to the ultimate seconds, a nook is awarded. Enzo Le Fée drops it on a sixpence, there’s “loads of motion inside that field” and Dan Ballard folds himself up like a consuming straw, rising highest and defying physics to go Sunderland into the playoff remaining and thus in direction of a spot within the Premier League.
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND – MAY 13: Daniel Ballard of Sunderland scores a purpose to make it 1-1 in the course of the Sky Wager Championship Play-Off Semi Last Second Leg match between AFC Sunderland and Coventry Metropolis at Stadium of Mild on Might 13, 2025 in Sunderland, England. (Picture by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Photos)
It was a second for the ages and a wealthy reward for a participant whose Sunderland profession has usually been a stop-start story of promise and setbacks, however removed from being a short and superb contribution to an in the end profitable season, it appears to have been the springboard for an additional upturn in kind for the Northern Eire worldwide.
The calendar yr of 2024 has been a memorable one for Ballard.
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By turns, it’s been a story of accidents and frustrations, dominance and defiance, and after the towering centre again turned in one other colossal efficiency for Northern Eire towards Germany in midweek — in addition to impressing every time he’s featured for the Lads within the Premier League — it feels as if the prodigy signed from Arsenal as an thrilling younger prospect again in 2022 is coming of age.
That Sunderland can name on three centre halves of the category of Ballard, Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete ought to give everybody actual confidence that we’ll have a stable defensive basis for almost all of the season, in addition to the scope to alter issues up when obligatory, however on condition that he was signed as we ready for our return to the Championship in 2022, the actual fact he’s trying greater than snug on the highest stage is an actual credit score to him.
I need to admit that after his expertise throughout The Recreation That Shall Stay Unnamed in the course of the 2023/2024 FA Cup, I did have one or two issues about his prospects if and once we achieved promotion to the Premier League, however so far, he’s doing fantastically properly and his worldwide profession goes from energy to energy, with Michael O’Neill’s Windsor Park defence roughly constructed across the attributes of each himself and Hume.
What I significantly love about Ballard’s method to defending is how wholehearted he’s and the way a lot delight he takes in guaranteeing that the crimson and white backline stays unbroached for so long as doable.
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 21: Dan Ballard of Sunderland in motion in the course of the Premier League match between Sunderland and Aston Villa at Stadium of Mild on September 21, 2025 in Sunderland, England. (Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Photos)
He’s not flashy and he’s not performative; as an alternative, he’s rugged, dependable, and he does his job with the minimal of fuss and most dedication, along with his credentials as a former Arsenal youth-level captain serving to him transition into what’s turning into a higher management position in crimson and white.
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One other key element of Ballard’s sport is his sheer single-mindedness.
Like all fine quality defenders, the concession of a purpose, being caught out of place or lacking a deal with is likely an actual supply of annoyance to Ballard, which ties in with Sunderland’s ethos as an entire. Below Régis Le Bris and his teaching workforce, defending has as soon as once more change into an artwork on Wearside and the likes of Ballard have totally purchased into what’s being requested of them, with the dependable presence of Robin Roefs offering an additional layer of safety.
When you’re an opposition ahead, Ballard desires to be sure you face an especially difficult ninety minutes and that you just’ll come off second finest most of the time. Conversely, in case you’re an opposition defender, he’s wanting to get the higher of you from set items, as we noticed to devastating impact throughout final season’s playoffs and can hopefully see extra of because the 2025/2026 season takes form.
Naturally, the mix of such a bodily and selfless method to the sport signifies that in his case, you’re at all times prone to be on edge relating to the potential for accidents, however Ballard’s additionally a resilient participant who appears to reply equally strongly to any setback he encounters, which is a top quality everybody likes to see in a Sunderland participant.
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His surname could evoke photos of gently-strummed guitars and syrupy vocals, however Ballard is heavy steel via and thru; a hard-as-nails defensive warrior who’s rising as a key participant for each membership and nation — and who’ll hopefully proceed to shine on the most important levels of all.