Leave your own message/tribute to Bally CLICK HERE

Good luck to the great man. He's been a true and loyal servant to the club in an era when loyalty is a thing of the past.
Let's hope part of the attraction of signing for Fulham is the prospect of "accidentally" kicking Sad Mag Bastard C***ke repeatedly in training!!!
SJ

I'll always rmemeber Ball as a red and White guy, even if he does have a a 'funny' southern accent. He was one of the best (and incidently hardest) SAFC defensive midfeilders when he chose to beand although no one can disagree that the playing level of the team has now moved up, he will still be missed on matchdays.
Robson

May I just say farewell to a loyal and trusted servant of Sunderland football club and may I say I will miss him. I wish him all the best with his future career at Fulham football club.
All the best mate,
Navigator

Good luck to him. Great servant, absolutely great bloke
Mick

If he does leave I wish him all the best - never the most skillful player, but probably what most of us would like to be like as a player. Always committed, a true professional.
Ian

I'll always remember his performance against Arsenal. Vintage Ball - throwing himself into critical tackles and winning them for 90 minutes.
Roger

I can't remember many more committed players for the lads over the past nine years. And as a last memory, how about that 50-50 tackle when he came on at Watford?
Dave

He's been a fantastic servant for us. I only hope we dont miss him when we're 1-0 up against Man U with 15 minutes to go, and we need the middle of the park tightening up(!).
Rob in Ruislip

Over the last 10 years he would have run through a brick wall as he sweated blood for our club. There is red & white blood pulsing through his veins. Our club captain and most loyal ambassador is on his way and I've got all the time in the world for him. Best of luck Bally - I for one will love you for ever !!!!
All the best, Stephen FTM

Around 1994 we aproached a mutual friend of Bally's about getting him to present our end of season awards . He said to put it in writing into the club as they have a secretary who sorts all that out, which we did . About 10 days later the phone rang in our house, and a bloke with a strange accent wanted to speak to Mr Burton . I assumed it was someone selling something so I handed it to my dad . The call lasted around 10 minutes, and it had been Bally . He hadnt been able to make it to our presentation due to family commitments, but he'd been genuinely interested in our sunday football team .
At 25 years of age, I shouldnt idolise these footballers any more, but in Kevin Balls case it's hard not to . I've never seen a footballer with his devotion to the club and it's supporters.
PB

Sad to see him go, but good luck to one of Sunderland's finest servants. Wish they had given him the Reserve Team coach job when Heath left!
Dave Smith Gloucester

We'll miss Bally and his tackles. Shows he isn't thinking about retiring yet. Good on him. Best of luck to him...a hard player & hard worker if there ever was one!
Bobby

I am sure most fans, like me, would be very sad to see Bally leave. I must admit that his first team playing days at Sunderland are over, but I would love to see him with a back-room job. He has been an excellent servant to the club and an excellent cruncher of a few opponents.
IF he does leave, I for one will wish him the best of luck.
GG

I'd like to add my thanks to Bally for his part in helping Sunderland to the heights they've reached today. He has been a marvellous example of a professional sportsman and an admirable club captain. It would be fitting if he could play at least part of the game this Saturday , coincidentally against his former club, so that the fans could show their appreciation for all that he has done.
Simon

Best of luck to him and I hope he comes back as a coach when he retires.
Cheers,
Yungsta

I do not even think Bould can fill Bally's boots. Although limited technically there is nobody who gave as much as Bally and I think his presence in the dressing room will be sorely missed.
SM

One of the greats. Charlie Hurley - forget him. Compare the records of the two in games played - won - lost etc. They were also in similar promotion / relegation / struggling teams scenarios if memory serves. Not because of his skill factor which was NIL but sheer guts , determination and commitment.
He typifies the qualities missing from the scum up the road. They would have done worse than to ask him to sign - he could then have taken great delight in giving them the time honoured response.
FTF(H-L-S)

We tried to get bally to talk at our second ever branch meeting. All was agreed, but then it came to light that he had double booked, and that he was already due to go to the disabled branch meeting.
We all felt disappointed but you cannot complain. The meeting went ahead as normal. At about 9.30pm, bally walked through the door with his two kids way past their bedtime really ). He said that he would do a 10 minute slot on the mike. He was excellent to listen to, and answered all of the questions put to him.
In reality he stayed for over an hour!!!!! What a guy.
From the somewhat quiet Seaham branch