Alan Ball MBE

Alan Ball will forever be remembered for his tireless performance in the 1966 World Cup Final as the youngest member of Sir Alf Ramsey's victorious England team.

The son of a former player and manager, Ball went on to great success with a series of top teams as well as captaining his country and moving on to club management.But the abiding memory of the shrill-of-voice Ball will be of that sun-and-showers July afternoon against West Germany at Wembley in 1966.

Ramsey was supposed not to favour wingers, but Ball - just 21 - kept powering down the right wing, tormenting the experienced German full back Karl-Heinz Schnellinger.It was Ball, pushing himself to the limits in extra time, who crossed for Geoff Hurst to produce his famous was-it-over-the-goal-line shot that gave England a 3-2 lead.

A few moments later people were on the pitch and it really was all over as Hurst made it 4-2 and Ball followed captain Bobby Moore up the steps to the Royal Box to collect his winning medal from the Queen.

Alan Ball was born on May 12, 1945 and joined Blackpool in 1961, making his league debut for the club as a 17-year-old in 1962. He picked up his first England cap in May 1965, playing in a 1-1 draw against Yugoslavia in Belgrade. He was in Ramsey's World Cup squad the following year and went on to glory at Wembley.

Ball's World Cup Final heroics led to his move from Blackpool to Everton in August 1966 for a then record fee of £110,000. Joining Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey on Merseyside, Ball formed one of the great midfield trios. Everton reached the FA Cup Final in 1968 only to lose to West Bromwich Albion, but in 1969-70 Everton went on to win the old First Division Championship.

But there was disappointment for Ball and England at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico when having reached the quarter finals, England lost 3-2 to West Germany in extra time having been 2-0 up.

In December 1971, Ball moved to Arsenal for another record fee - £220,000. Arsenal had won the FA Cup and League double earlier in 1971 but Ball's years with them were not so successful: the club losing to Leeds in the 1972 FA Cup Final and then being pipped by Liverpool for the league title in 1973.

Ball became only the second England international to be sent off when he was dismissed in a crucial World Cup qualifier in Poland in 1973 - a match England lost 2-0. Subsequently, Ball was suspended for the must-win return against Poland at Wembley in October 1973 when England, after dominating throughout, could only draw 1-1 - a result that put Poland and not England through to the World Cup finals.

He bounced back as England captain in 1975 and helped mastermind wins over West Germany and, by 5-1, over Scotland. But by the end of the year his England career was over after 72 caps.

Ball then moved from Arsenal to Southampton in December 1976, helping the south coast side back to the old First Division in 1978. After a spell playing in America he became player-manager of Blackpool in February 1980 but left after a year - going back to play for Southampton. After a short time playing in Hong Kong, Ball ended his playing days with Bristol Rovers.

There then followed a series of managerial posts, including Portsmouth, Exeter, Southampton, Manchester City and Portsmouth again. The Manchester City job was particularly disappointing, with the club being relegated from the Premiership in 1996. He quit at the beginning of the next season.

There then followed another spell in charge at Portsmouth which ended in December 1999.The following year Ball and four other members of the World Cup winning team - Roger Hunt, Nobby Stiles, Ray Wilson and George Cohen, were awarded MBEs.

Where do you start with his contribution to Portsmouth Football Club? Having been less than convincing in his first spell as a player-manager at his first club Blackpool, Bally was plucked from the obscurity of Bristol Rovers in 1983 by then Pompey manager Bobby Campbell to coach the youth side.

Within twelve months he was caretaker for the final game of the season as Pompey thrashed Swansea 5-0 in the wake of Campbell's shock dismissal and, three weeks later, in May 1984, he was unveiled to the universal surprise of no one as John Deacon's choice as manager.

Under him Pompey enjoyed some great times. His rag-tag army of misfits and apparent has-beens dominated second division football for three years. Twice his sides should have been promoted - in '85 and '86 - but choked at the final hurdle.

Knight, Blake, Gilbert, O'Callaghan and Hilaire: the names trip of the tongue like yesterday. Tait, Kennedy and the mighty Quinn: irascible characters in the mould of the manager. Channon, Swain and Mariner…

They were fantastic times to be a Pompey fan and the beating heart of the club was Ball. He used to be the ex-'scummer' who'd previously only ever known abuse and vitriol whenever he stepped onto the Fratton turf with Blackpool or Rovers: now we loved him. And he loved us.

He took Pompey into the first division for the first time in almost 30 years in 1987, but the adventure was short-lived as financial pressures meant Ball was forced to sell key players.

Under new Chairman Jim Gregory he was re-designated 'head coach'. It was of little surprise when John Gregory became 'manager' in January 1989, ousting the man he'd clearly been brought in to replace.

A spell at Stoke - we clapped him in January 1990 at the Victoria Ground - was not happy. One at Exeter more so: and he was cheered again by the travelling hordes before the FA Cup third round tie in 1992.

And then he returned to manage Saints, duly performing a miracle to keep them in the Premiership in 1994. Soon after he brought his Saints side to Fratton for Alan Knight's testimonial and he even found the time to play a cameo role in the game. We cheered him again. Muted they may have been, but we cheered him nevertheless.

Much as he loved Saints, as he loved Pompey, the lure of managing a bigger club saw him arrive at Manchester City in the summer of 1995. It was to prove a disastrous career move and the abuse he received before his inevitable departure as City crashed into the first division seemed as though he'd turned his back on the game he loved for good.

A cosy circuit of after dinner speeches - well worth every penny - looked to be his road to comfortable retirement and afternoons on the racecourse with his pal Mick Channon.

But the lure was too much. In January 1998, with Pompey cast adrift at the foot of the first division, Martin Gregory - son of Jim - came up with perhaps the only cunning plan of his life.

Who better to pull Pompey back from the abyss he thought, but Ball? From the moment he arrived in a press conference - 'people went to war from this city' - we were a club transformed.

Stockport at home is down in Pompey legend. The great escape pulled off at Bradford likewise. Not only that he then guided the team and fans through the dark days of administration and to a bright new future under Milan Mandaric.

Sure, his tenure was short under Milan. And with hindsight, Ball was perhaps not a manager for the 21st century player. Money talked as much, if not more than talent these days.

Amid the footballing highs there were family tragedies. His father Alan died in a car accident in 1982 and his wife Lesley died of ovarian cancer in 2004.