FC Edmonton General Manager Jay Ball Steps Down

Almost four years after he joined the club as general manager, Jay Ball is parting ways with FC Edmonton.

The executive has been a crucial cog in helping the club navigate from the now-defunct North American Soccer League to the Canadian Premier League, where the Eddies were one of seven clubs to participate in the domestic professional league’s inaugural season.

More recently, he helped broker a partnership between FC Edmonton and the Concordia University of Edmonton which will benefit players for years to come.

Ball was quick to communicate that his departure from FC Edmonton has been in the works for a while, and that he was simply departing to pursue other opportunities. Here’s the letter that he penned announcing his departure:

I am very grateful to Tom, Dave, and the entire Fath family for providing me with the opportunity at FC Edmonton. They are tremendous stewards of community and sport in Edmonton. Thanks also to everyone at the Fath Group. It has been an honour to be part of the FC Edmonton story. Thank you to Head Coach Jeff Paulus, his tech staff and all the players. I know this team is destined for great things. I want to thank the dedicated and professional staff that I have worked with at both the club and league who have made the FC Edmonton and CanPL  experience so extraordinary. You are incredible people, and I have learned much from you. Above all, I’m most grateful to the fans for the many remarkable moments we’ve all shared and the friendships I’ve made. I am proud of what we accomplished together, from the NASL to #YEG4CPL to the CanPL, what a ride it was in such a short period. See you at the pitch.

Jay Ball

It was a chance encounter that first led Ball to FC Edmonton: he ran into Tom Fath at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where he was leading a team responsible for corporate engagement and ticket strategies during what would end up being a sellout affair in Edmonton. Evidently impressing the Eddies owner, he was contacted by the Fath Group’s hiring team just four months later.

Jay has been an important part of FC Edmonton and his hard work and direction to launch the Club as part of the Canadian Premier League contributed to our success in our first season with the League. We are grateful for Jay’s contributions and wish him well in the future.

Tom Fath

Outside of the professional football scene, Ball has been a fixture in the Edmonton community for quite some time: he’s worked at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championships, the Tour of Alberta, and the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, among others. He’s also the former president and CEO of a not-for-profit organization called Junior Achievement, working with the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce before that.

After the 2019 Canadian Premier League season saw FC Edmonton drop from third place in the spring season to sixth in the fall, the Alberta-based club has announced no less than eight roster cuts so far. Suffice to say, the offseason following the 2019 campaign has the club seeing a lot of changes.

FC Edmonton has not announced an immediate replacement for Ball, who will evidently be leaving some big shoes to fill.

Sources: Jay Ball (via Twitter), Canadian Premier League, Edmonton Journal