Began his career at Manchester City, he never made a first-team appearance despite being a star player in the club's Reserve and Academy teams.

Ball spent his early childhood with Prestwich Marauders, before he joined the youth system at Manchester City at the age of seven.

[11] He made his league debut at the County Ground on 7 August 2010, in a 2–1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, but was replaced by Alan O'Brien after sixty minutes for tactical reasons.

[12] He was initially played out of position in midfield by manager Danny Wilson and then spent time on the substitutes bench before taking an injured Charlie Austin's place up front in October.

[15] He was then benched in favour of Charlie Austin and Vincent Péricard, returning to the City of Manchester Stadium in January after scoring a total of three goals in nine starts and 12 substitute appearances for Swindon.

[16] He scored five goals in 21 appearances for "Posh" in the second half of the 2010–11 season, and was a stoppage-time substitute for Lee Tomlin in the League One play-off final as United secured promotion into the Championship with a 3–0 victory over Huddersfield Town.

[19] He scored four goals in eight games for the "Dale", which led to him being recalled to London Road on 10 October to compete with Paul Taylor and Emile Sinclair for a starting place in the absence of Nicky Ajose (loaned out) and Lee Tomlin (injured).

[29] On 22 June 2017, Ball signed for Rotherham United on a two-year deal; he said he was persuaded to come to the New York Stadium after hearing manager Paul Warne's ambitious plans.

[36] In December 2018 he was praised by City teammate Hope Akpan,[37] and in May 2019 he was credited by "Bantams" manager Gary Bowyer for helping Lewis O'Brien to develop as a young player.