Thomas Edgar Ball (11 February 1900 – 11 November 1923) was an English footballer who played at centre-half for Aston Villa.

He was shot dead by his landlord and neighbour, ex-policeman George Stagg, thus becoming the first and to-date only active Football League player in England to have been murdered.

[5] He made no first-team appearances for Newcastle before moving to the West Midlands to join Aston Villa of the Football League First Division in January 1920, where he was seen as cover for Frank Barson.

[6] The funeral cortege set off from the butcher's shop of Beatrice Ball's father, William Richards, in High Street, Aston;[9] seven coaches and several cars[9] made their way through the crowds lining the streets to the packed St. John's Church, Perry Barr[10] where the coffin was carried by Ball's former teammates.

[6] A collection among the crowd at Aston Villa's home match on the Saturday before the funeral raised over a hundred pounds for Ball's widow.

The following poem was written shortly after Ball's murder:Twas on a Sabbath evening in drear November daysTwo friends were heard creating, in Perry Barry's bywaysHigh words just fed the anger, now this young man's life is fled.A shot and then another!

The jury rejected this argument, returning a verdict of "wilful murder", and Stagg was committed for trial at Stafford Assizes.

[8] Stagg continued to claim that the killing was an accident and that he first fired the gun when Ball (allegedly "under the influence of drink") started to climb over the gate following an argument.

[8] The Aston Villa trainer, Alf Miles, was called as a witness saying that Ball was a "good living man – always in the best of condition".

[8] Stagg was refused leave to appeal, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment as part of the reforms introduced by the newly elected Labour Government.