Alan Ball RIP

[dave]

World Cup winner Alan Ball has died of a heart attack at the age of 61.
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 Everton, 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.

Ball was awarded an MBE in 2000 for his services to football.

He is the second member of the side that beat West Germany 4-2 at Wembley to die. Captain Bobby Moore died of cancer in 1993.


RIP Alan.

[tim]

I'm stunned. Alan Ball was the guy who gave me a chance in football, when he was manager of Stoke and I impressed him in a testimonial game that he was playing in. I didn't play at all well in the subsequent trial match and that was the end of it, but I never forgot the fact that he was prepared to give me a go.

RIP Bally, you achieved so much more than so many English players had before and have since.

[jp]

Totally stunned, I thought Bally was still a very fit active young man.

[Tim Munslow]

Stunned is a much over-used word, but you're right - that is stunning news. Like Billy Bremner before him he was a bloke you thought would live to a ripe old age. Very sad.

Absolutely key member of the 1966 side with a work-rate hardly equalled before or since.

[dago]

when i was a youngster playing for my local football team bally came to our end of season presentation evening to present us with our awards and lots of photographs and can i say what a gent he was.

later in life a few of us went down to portsmouth along with andy awford for trials and again met up with bally.....even on the training ground he had fire and passion for the game.

a true football genius who could still outplay a lot of these fairies we see on our screens today.

RIP BALLY

[leighbaker]

I was totally shocked when i found out this morning. True Genius of the game!

RIP Alan.

[citymatt]

Legend is a word banded about too much today. He won a World cup, a true legend in every sense of the word.