Daniel Ballard

Daniel Ballard

Ballard playing for Northern Ireland in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Daniel George Ballard [1]
Date of birth	(1999-09-22) 22 September 1999 (age 26) [2]
Place of birth	Stevenage, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.87 m) [2]
Position	Centre-back [3]
Team information
Current team	Sunderland
Number	5
Youth career
2007–2019	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2022	Arsenal	0	(0)
2019	→ Swindon Town (loan)	1	(0)
2020–2021	→ Blackpool (loan)	25	(2)
2021–2022	→ Millwall (loan)	31	(1)
2022–	Sunderland	88	(6)
International career‡
	Northern Ireland U18
2018	Northern Ireland U21	4	(1)
2020–	Northern Ireland	29	(5)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16:17, 25 October 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 10:01, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

Daniel George Ballard (born 22 September 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Sunderland. Born in England, he represents Northern Ireland at international level.

Club career

Arsenal

Born in Stevenage, ^[4] Ballard joined the Arsenal Academy at the age of eight. He signed his first professional contract in June 2018. ^[5] Having been released on two occasions, Arsenal offered him scholarship terms when he was 16 following an appearance in a friendly match, away at Bayern Munich. ^[6]

Loan to Swindon Town

Ballard moved on loan from Arsenal to Swindon Town in July 2019. ^[7] He made his debut in a 2–0 win against Scunthorpe United in the League Two on 3 August 2019, coming off the bench in the 88th minute. ^{[8] [9]} He then scored his first career goal in an EFL Trophy tie against Chelsea U21s on 6 August 2019. ^[10] But his loan spell was cut short after just three appearances due to a severe knee injury that required 5 months of recovery time. ^[11]

Loan to Blackpool

In October 2020, he moved on loan to Blackpool, signing with the club until January 2021. ^{[12] [13]} Ballard made his debut in a 1–0 loss against Charlton in League One on 20 October. ^[14] On 5 January 2021, it was announced that the loan had been extended to the end of the season. ^[15] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Crewe Alexandra on 2 March 2021. ^[16]

Loan to Millwall

He moved on loan to Millwall on 1 July 2021. ^[17] He scored his first goal for the club when he scored against West Bromwich Albion on 11 September 2021 in a 1–1 draw. ^[18]

Sunderland

On 30 June 2022, Ballard joined newly promoted Championship club Sunderland for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract. ^{[19] [20]} On 16 September 2023, Ballard scored his first goal for Sunderland in a 3–1 win against QPR. ^[21]

He signed a new deal in July 2024 to extend his time on Wearside until 2028. ^[22]

On 13 May 2025, Ballard scored the winning goal (on aggregate) in extra time in the second leg of the 2024–25 EFL Championship play-off matchup with Coventry City, setting up a final match with Sheffield United. ^[23] On 24 May 2025, Sunderland defeated Sheffield United 2–1 in the play-off final to earn promotion to the Premier League. ^[24]

Ballard scored on his Premier League debut, the second goal in a 3–0 win over West Ham United on the opening matchday. ^[25]

International career

Born in England, Ballard qualifies to represent Northern Ireland as his mother was born there. ^[4]

He has represented Northern Ireland at Under-18 and Under-21 levels. ^{[4] [26]} He was called up to the senior team for the first time in March 2019. ^{[4] [27]} He made his senior debut in a 1–1 draw against Romania in a Nations League game in September 2020. ^{[28] [29]}

In September 2023, Ballard was injured and ruled out of Euros qualifying matches. ^[30] In October 2024, he missed Nations League games due to injury. ^[31] In August 2025 it was announced that he would miss the following month's World Cup qualifiers due to injury. ^[32]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 October 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Arsenal	2019–20 [33]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2020–21 [34]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2021–22 [35]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Swindon Town (loan)	2019–20 [33]	League Two	1	0	0	0	1	0	1 [a]	1	3	1
Blackpool (loan)	2020–21 [34]	League One	25	2	2	0	0	0	3 [b]	0	30	2
Millwall (loan)	2021–22 [35]	Championship	31	1	0	0	2	0	–		33	1
Sunderland	2022–23 [36]	Championship	19	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
	2023–24 [21]	Championship	42	3	1	0	0	0	–		43	3
	2024–25 [37]	Championship	20	2	0	0	0	0	3 [c]	1	23	3
	2025–26	Premier League	7	1	0	0	0	0	–		7	1
	Total		88	6	4	0	0	0	3	1	95	7
Career total			145	9	6	0	3	0	7	2	161	11

1. Appearance in EFL Trophy
2. Appearances in League One play-offs
3. Appearances in EFL Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 13 October 2025 ^[28]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Northern Ireland	2020	5	0
	2021	7	1
	2022	4	1
	2023	5	0
	2024	7	3
	2025	4	0
	Total	32	5

Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ballard goal. ^[28]

List of international goals scored by Daniel Ballard

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Cap	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 September 2021	LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania	Lithuania	9	1–0	4–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	9 June 2022	Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Pristina, Kosovo	Kosovo	15	2–3	2–3	2022–23 UEFA Nations League C
3	8 June 2024	Estadi Mallorca Son Moix, Palma de Mallorca, Spain	Spain	23	1–0	1–5	Friendly
4	5 September 2024	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Luxembourg	25	2–0	2–0	2024–25 UEFA Nations League C
5	15 November 2024	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Belarus	27	1–0	2–0	2024-25 UEFA Nations League C

Honours

Blackpool

• EFL League One play-offs: 2021 ^[38]

Sunderland

• EFL Championship play-offs: 2025 ^[39]

References

1. "2019/20 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
2. Daniel Ballard at Soccerway. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
3. Daniel Ballard at WorldFootball.net
4. Gareth Hanna (12 March 2019). "Who is Daniel Ballard? Everything you need to know about the Arsenal defender called up to Northern Ireland's senior squad". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
5. "Daniel Ballard signs new professional contract". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
6. "Dan Ballard on Sunderland's flying start, what he owes Ar..." The Observer. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
7. "Daniel Ballard: Arsenal loan defender to Swindon Town for the season". BBC Sport. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
8. "Scunthorpe United 0–2 Swindon Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
9. "Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk – Dan BALLARD – Player Profile". www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
10. "Flashes of excellence, but Swindon Town lose to Chelsea U21s in EFL Trophy opener at the County Ground". swindonadvertiser.co.uk. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
11. "Daniel Ballard close to comeback after injury cut loan short". OneFootball. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
12. "Seasiders Sign Ballard On Loan". www.blackpoolfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
13. "Arsenal's Ballard joins Blackpool on loan". BBC Sport.
14. "Report: Blackpool 0 Charlton Athletic 1". www.blackpoolfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
15. "Dan Ballard: Blackpool extend loan for Arsenal's Northern Ireland defender". BBC Sport. 5 January 2021.
16. "Report: Blackpool 1 Crewe Alexandra 1". www.blackpoolfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
17. "Millwall sign Arsenal's Ballard on loan". BBC Sport.
18. "West Brom 1-1 Millwall". BBC. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
19. "SAFC sign Daniel Ballard". safc.com. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
20. "Sunderland sign Arsenal defender Ballard". BBC Sport.
21. "Games played by Daniel Ballard in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
22. "Dan Ballard Signs New Contract". www.safc.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
23. "Sunderland 1-1 Coventry City AET (Agg 3-2) - Dan Ballard goal takes Black Cats to Wembley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
24. "Sunderland stun Sheffield United in playoff to return to Premier League". Reuters. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
25. Taylor, Louise (16 August 2025). "Mayenda sparks stunning Sunderland start to increase Potter's West Ham pain". The Guardian . Retrieved 16 August 2025.
26. "Arsenal's Daniel Ballard delivers last gasp win to keep Northern Ireland U21s' Euro hopes alive". Belfast Telegraph. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
27. "Northern Ireland squad in full: Arsenal defender Daniel Ballard earns first senior call-up". Belfast Telegraph. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
28. "Daniel Ballard". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
29. "Ballard and Gretarsson join Blackpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
30. "Ballard is latest Northern Ireland injury concern" – via bbc.co.uk.
31. "Northern Ireland: Peacock-Farrell and Ballard ruled out of Nations League games". BBC Sport. 7 October 2024.
32. "Northern Ireland: Defender Daniel Ballard out for 'two to three weeks' and set to miss World Cup qualifiers". BBC Sport. 27 August 2025.
33. "Games played by Daniel Ballard in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
34. "Games played by Daniel Ballard in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
35. "Games played by Daniel Ballard in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
36. "Games played by Daniel Ballard in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
37. "Games played by Daniel Ballard in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
38. "Starting Lineups - Blackpool vs Lincoln 30.05.2021". Sky Sports. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
39. "Sheffield United 1–2 Sunderland: Line-ups". BBC Sport. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.