 WORLD CUP winner Alan Ball was today found dead outside his Hampshire home. The former Everton hero, who was aged 61, was found by firefighters outside his house in Warsash when they attended a 999 call at 12.15am. It is suspected he had suffered a massive heart attack as he battled to put out the bonfire which had spread to a fence in his back garden. Hampshire police were alerted after the body was discovered in the front garden of his home in Hook Lane, just after midnight. Fire crews responded to a call at his large detached home, where he had lived with his family for several years. A family friend said: "Alan was burning some rubbish in a proper brazier in the afternoon. It looks like it started up again in the night and he was going out with a bowl of water to put it out and we think he keeled over in the garden. We believe it was a heart attack." Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious. It is the latest tragedy to hit the Ball family - his father, Alan Ball senior, was killed in a car crash in Cyrpus in 1982. In 2004 he was devastated when Lesley, his wife of 37 years, lost her three-year battle with ovarian cancer. His daughter Mandy also battled against breast cancer for several years. This morning his son Jimmy talked about his family's shock and paid tribute to his father, saying: “I would like him to be known as a nice man with a lot of passion for football. He had a big heart and was very generous. "He loved his kids very very much. I know he missed my mother terribly. We are very proud of him and what he achieved." Southampton FC legend Lawrie McMenemy said: "Alan and me were supposed to be playing golf today, a charity event for - would you believe - Wessex Heartbeat. He was in my team along with Hughie Fisher.
"I had a call this morning at 5.08am from Jimmy and I could not believe it." Alan Ball was a key member of the England side that won the World Cup in 1966 and went on to win 72 caps for his country. He started his career at Blackpool and went on to play for the Blues, Arsenal and Southampton before a playing spell in the United States of America. He also managed seven clubs over a 19-year period, including two spells with Portsmouth as well as Southampton and Manchester City.
DO YOU have any memories on Bally? Did you ever see him play? What is his footballing legacy? Have your say here
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