Sunderland's Dan Ballard (Image: Ian Horrocks)
Sunderland's Dan Ballard (Image: Ian Horrocks)
DAN Ballard didn't have a club and didn't know what his football future looked like.
He was 16, had just been released by Arsenal for the second time - the first was a couple of years earlier, only for the Gunners to then change their mind - and he was in talks with Stevenage, his hometown club.
An offer was on the table. But then the phone rang. It was Arsenal again, offering Ballard the chance to play in a friendly game against Bayern Munich.
"That was a really pivotal point in my career," says Ballard.
And what followed was career-changing, for two reasons. Not only was it the game that convinced Arsenal to re-sign Ballard, it was also the first time he'd played at centre-back.
"I'd sort of been a right-back for a long time, then moved into midfielder but I was never a natural midfielder. I've always been a defender at heart," he says.
"I had a really good game against Bayern and I got offered a scholarship to go back.
"I'd been really close to not going and just signing for Stevenage as well. They'd offered me a two-year scholarship and I'd had to ask them to wait a week. Some people told me not to do that and to sign for Stevenage because there was something there for me, but in my head I had to go and give that game a go!"
It's little wonder that Ballard often ponders how things might have worked out in his career had he not taken the punt on turning out for Arsenal again.
His career accelerated with the Gunners from that point onwards.
"That was really the first year I started to improve and really started to play in the team," he says.
He was captain of the Arsenal side that made the 2018 FA Youth Cup final, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe and Flo Balogun among his teammates.
"When I look back, I don't think they gave me that opportunity to play in that friendly because of my football ability," he says.
"I was respectful, worked really hard and I think they just wanted to give me a chance."
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There's another decision Ballard looks back on with delight - signing for Sunderland three years ago. He could have gone to Burnley and turning down the chance to play for Vincent Kompany can't have been easy for a promising young central defender. But turning down Sunderland was impossible.
"I just saw the size of the club," he says.
"It's an amazing football club and when I look back at the last three years in terms of my personal growth and my journey, I'm just so glad it's happened the way it's happened.
"We've had some tough times as a club in the last few years but this has shown the levels you can get to. I don't think there are many clubs, not just in England but in the world, that have fans who can produce an atmosphere like that."
And so the conversation shifts to Coventry. That game, that header, that moment.
"It was a moment of madness, it's all a blur, it was carnage" Ballard laughs.
It's 72 hours on from the defender's dramatic last gasp goal to seal Sunderland a place in the Championship play-off final and the days that followed were "crazy".
"It was actually quite an emotional moment," he says.
"And then I looked over at my family after the game and I could see they were emotional.
"I've had thousands of messages since, thanking me and telling me it's the greatest experience they've had in football. That means a lot that so many people got so much joy out of it.
"I dropped my little one at nursery this morning and some man had his daughter in his arms and was just fist pumping the air when he saw me!
"You can't describe the feeling of scoring that goal and what followed, it's just pure joy. I didn't get to sleep until 5 or 6 the next morning, I just couldn't get the scenes out of my head."
Five days earlier, on the eve of the first leg at Coventry, Le Bris gathered his Sunderland squad at the Academy of Light and Ballard discovered he was in the starting XI. It would be a first start in two-and-a-half months for the 25-year-old, whose only football prior to the play-offs since February was a 30 minute run-out against QPR on the final day of the season.
For Ballard, emotions were mixed. Delight, obviously, at getting the nod, but also apprehension, and a lot of sympathy for the player he was replacing, Chris Mepham.
"I've looked up to him all season," says Ballard.
"He's been probably you could argue our best player all season. When I found out I was starting the first thing I thought was it's gutting for Chris because he probably deserved it more.
"It's hard because when you're in direct competition almost it's not nice. I've had to sit on the bench a lot this season and watch so I know how it feels.
"He's a great guy. When I've sat on the bench I've supported him and he's done the same for these two games.
"To be honest, I don't think I would have taken it nearly as well as he's done. He's a great person. He's not disconnected with the group. He's right in and amongst it and it just shows what a great character he is.
"Obviously I've had my injury problems this year and I haven't had a run of games all season really. It's been very stop start. It was nice seeing the team do well but you also want to be a part of that.
"That's why I was so nervous going into the first leg, I did feel like I had something to prove. I'm just thankful the gaffer still had trust in me to start. Maybe I didn't really deserve it through my performances through the season.
"I only found out the day before the game. I'd worked really hard to try and get back and when I was with the team in that QPR game I just did everything I could to show I was fit and ready when really I probably wasn't, to be honest.
"Now I've got through those games I feel really good."
There can be absolutely no doubts that Ballard deserves his place in the Sunderland starting XI at Wembley tomorrow. He now has a place in Sunderland folklore.
"I must have watched the goal back 100 times," he smiles.
"It just seems to have been all over social media. Every time I go on my phone it's there - and if the opportunity is there to watch it I watch it every time. It's great to see all the angles and just what it means to everyone.
"The love from the supporters and the fans, not just the football people but everyone, it's been great since day one for me here.
"Everyone is welcoming and friendly. My first child was born up here, we feel really settled and enjoy life up here.
"And now we have the opportunity to get to the Premier League."