Johnny Ball is celebrating his 35th birthday. He has been the manager of Birmingham City Football Club for 5 years, having previously played for them for 10 years. In total he has played for 3 clubs, starting with Newcastle United after leaving school at age 15. He moved to America briefly in 1961 to play for Los Angeles Dynamos but was unhappy there and returned to Birmingham less than a year later. He has lived with his wife Marie in a lovely old house near Birmingham for 2 years.