The 61-year-old, the youngest member of the team that lifted the Jules Rimet trophy, was found collapsed at his home overnight and later confirmed dead.

Ball won 72 caps for his country in a 10-year England career and is the second member of the 1966 side to pass away after captain Bobby Moore in 1993.

Firefighters and officers were called to his home in Warsash, Hampshire, at 12.15am (BST) this morning when his body was discovered outside.

A Hampshire Police spokesman said Ball had been trying to tackle a bonfire that had got out of control when he collapsed and died.

There are no suspicious circumstances to the death, he added.

The midfielder won 72 caps for his country in a 10-year England career and starred for both Everton and Arsenal.

Ball is the second member of the side that beat West Germany 4-2 at Wembley to pass away.

Captain Bobby Moore died of cancer in 1993.

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

Ball began his career at Blackpool and went on to play for Everton, Arsenal and Southampton, before a spell playing in America. 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.

Ball 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.

Fellow World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton said: "He was probably the best player that day and if it had not been for his impact the result could have been totally different.

"He did not appear to have a nerve in his body, and he was an inspiration to us all."

Sir Bobby believes Ball's bright talent was simply a natural extension of his lively personality which made him one of the most popular and enthusiastic England players of his era.

He added: "Alan was always bright and bubbly in everything he did as a player. He went about his work with great enthusiasm and gusto and he always had a smile on his face.

"He was a sensational little player with great touch and great vision. He had great close control and although he wasn't a fast player he didn't need to be. He could see things clearly and always made the right decisions.

"He was the youngest member of our squad and we were all looking forward to our latest reunion in two weeks. I am very sad and shocked by the news. Alan will be badly missed."

Jack Charlton revealed how Ball's terrier-like style complimented his swashbuckling brother Sir Bobby perfectly in Sir Alf Ramsey's team.

"Alan was probably my best friend in football. I had to put up with him, he was always taking the micky out of me and having a laugh at me. But it was all in fun. He was a lovely little lad.

"I find it very difficult to talk about Alan because I keep smiling and I don't want to smile.

"He was a worker, he never stopped running. He would always come and take the ball off you."

He added: "Alf said 'you get the ball. What do you do with it? You give it to Bobby Charlton.

"When you're the size of Alan as a footballer, you've got to get stuck into everybody."

Former team-mate Sir Geoff Hurst said: "He was the youngest member of the team and man of the match in the 1966 World Cup final.

"Socially he was always a good laugh and the 1966 team mixed a lot after then."

Hurst contacted other members of the team this morning, and has asked to be left alone. He will pay a further tribute at a function next week.

He said: "We are all totally devastated."

Another former England team-mate Alan Mullery said Ball's death was "shocking news".

He said: "He was such a bouncy and lively, young 61-year-old. He was the life and soul of everything. It is shocking news.

"I played with him in Mexico (in the 1970 World Cup); he was a loveable bouncy character, he had a heart of gold. He lived football.

"He loved playing for his country. It is such a shock. At 61, he was a fit little fellow. He played a lot of golf."

Former Southampton manager Lawrie McMenemy recounted the story of when he signed Ball for Saints.

"He came in and said 'it's like looking up at Blackpool Tower', because he's much smaller than me obviously, and I walked past him and locked the door," he said.

"I wouldn't let him out until he signed. I wanted him so badly for his ability and his enthusiasm. That rubbed off on everybody."

England legend Sir Tom Finney expressed his "great shock" at the news.

"It was a great shock when I heard the news this morning," he said. "I'm very sorry for his remaining family.

"He always struck me as a being a very fit type of lad and was very vibrant.

"He always gave that appearance on the field of play."

Finney, who attended the 1966 World Cup final, described Ball as the match's "outstanding player".

"I saw the game when England won the World Cup and I said then he was the outstanding player. He played really, really well.

"He, more than anybody else, was responsible for the win.

"He was full of life and was a great fellow to have in your side because he gave everything he got every minute of every game."

Ball's former Blackpool and England team-mate Jimmy Armfield hailed his work ethic which he said enabled him to rise above his contemporaries and force his way into the England side while still a teenager.

Armfield was already an established figure at Bloomfield Road when Ball arrived on trial in 1961. Ball made his debut the following year in a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield.

Armfield, who was a fellow member of the 1966 World Cup squad but missed the final due to injury, said: "It is devastating news. Alan started his career with us at Blackpool and we had two players in the squad.

"I watched him develop and he was a footballer who played with great enthusiasm. He had energy, ambition, drive and passion - and if he was not passionate about something, he didn't do it.

"He was the youngest player on the team and I thought it was that energy, drive and stamina that did so much. Alf Ramsey did well to put him in the team as a teenager at first, and Alan paid him back in full."

Howard Kendall today hailed Ball as the key to Everton's on-the-field success in the early 1970s.

The legendary former Everton manager formed a famous 'holy trinity' in his playing days with Ball and Colin Harvey in the Toffees midfield, which took the club to their 1970 title success.

Kendall, who is regarded as Everton's most successful manager after three spells in charge, said of Ball: "We arrived at Everton in the same season.

"We hit it off immediately. He was such a bubbly character, it was really Alan who made the partnership with me and Colin work as well as it did.

"We went on to win the title together, and I recall one season he scored 20 goals from midfield, what would you pay for that sort of talent now?

"I was only speaking to him a week or so again, he had attended a dinner at Everton. This is a terrible loss for the club and for football."

Kendall added: "To play together that year when we won the title, in that great team, was the best ever in my career and having Alan there made it easy for me. I'm devastated by the news, I have lost a friend and team-mate, we all have."

Southampton announced they would open a book of condolence for Ball, who had two spells with the club including the promotion-winning season of 1978, and later rejoined the club as manager.

Acting Saints chairman Leon Crouch told the club's official website www.saintsfc.co.uk: "It is very sad news which has hit everyone hard.

"He was a terrific character who was always bubbly and jolly and he was a football man through and through.

"He was a fantastic player who did a fantastic job for this club. He was a great passer of the ball and a real dynamo in midfield. He also did tremendously well for us in his brief stint as manager."

Blackpool players will observe a minute's silence before Saturday's game with Scunthorpe and also wear black armbands as a mark of respect to Ball, who made 116 appearances for the club.

Chairman Karl Oyston told the club's official website: "It is a very sad day for football and Blackpool FC. Alan holds a hugely significant place in the history of Blackpool FC.

"He will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him, he was a man of great character, energy and huge talent. I feel privileged to have met him and our thoughts go out to his family."