Alan Ball, who helped England defeat West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 World Cup final, has died of a suspected heart attack aged 61.

He was found collapsed outside his home after attempting to fight a bonfire in his garden, Hampshire Police said. Firefighters and officers were called to his home in Warsash, Hampshire, at 12.15am when his body was discovered outside. There are no suspicious circumstances to the death, he added. Ball had spent the day working on his garden, but it appeared the fire had spread to a fence. A Hampshire Police spokesman said Ball had been trying to tackle a bonfire that had got out of control when he collapsed and died.

The youngest member of the side that lifted the World Cup, Ball passed away overnight. He is the second member of the side that won at Wembley to die. Bobby Moore, the captain, died of cancer in 1993.

A box-to-box midfielder, Ball was a key member of Sir Alf Ramsey's 'Wingless Wonders', and was awarded an MBE in 2000 for his services to football.

Jimmy Ball, his son, said from his father’s Southampton home: “I was talking to him last night just after the football and he was in great form. We were talking about [Paul] Scholes’s pass. And then I got a phone call in the middle of the night. It’s unbelievable and very, very sad.”

Mr Ball told BBC Radio Solent his father had been working in his garden at home yesterday. He said he was “very proud” of his father’s achievements and added: “I would like him to be known as a nice man with a passion for football. He had a big heart and was very generous.”

Mr Ball said his father missed his mother Lesley terribly after she died from cancer three years ago and added: “I hope they are together now.”

Ball began his career at Blackpool and went on to play for Everton, Arsenal and Southampton, before a spell playing in Canada. He was part of Everton’s 1970 league championship-winning side. He also managed seven clubs over a 19-year period, including two spells with Portsmouth as well as Southampton and Manchester City. However, his managerial career was significantly less successful than his time as a player.

He made his England debut in May 1965 in a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia in Belgrade and also appeared in the 1970 World Cup finals in Mexico. In 1973, he became only the second England player to be sent off in a full international when he was dismissed in a vital World Cup qualifier in Poland. He missed the return game at Wembley as a result, a match that famously saw England fail to reach the 1974 finals and resulted in Ramsey’s dismissal.

Ball went on to briefly captain his country but his international career was ended abruptly in 1975 when Ball was only 30. He had scored eight international goals.

In May 2005, Ball put his World Cup winners’ medal and commemorative tournament cap up for auction to raise money for his family. They were sold for £140,000.

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