SIR ALF WON US GLORY ... BUT DIED BROKE; AS NEW MANAGER KEVIN KEEGAN

THE widow of England football legend Sir Alf Ramsey fears she will have to sell the family home to make ends meet.

Sir Alf, the only man to lead England to World Cup victory, was virtually broke when he died of prostate cancer and Alzheimer's Disease last April, aged 79.

Now his wife of 48 years, Lady Victoria Ramsey, 76, says: "I may have to move out of the home we shared for 30 years."

Football fans - increasingly annoyed at the vast sums earned by today's stars - will be furious at learning that the proud Sir Alf had to carefully watch his pennies during his twilight years.

He was surviving on pounds 75-a-week State pension, topped up by a private contribution from the Football Association, which is paying pounds 750,000 a year to today's England's coach Kevin Keegan.

Probate papers published last week reveal that during his 30-year career as a player and then manager, Sir Alf accumulated little more than his semi-detached house in Ipswich, which he bought with his pounds 5,000 bonus for winning the World Cup.

Today it is worth around pounds 140,000 and has been bequeathed to his wife, but she is unsure about how she will make ends meet in future.

Lady Victoria said: "I just don't know what I will do in the future. Hopefully there will be something left for me.

"I paid for his nursing home bills out of my savings. But I don't care if I'm left with nothing. I still have the memories of that wonderful man and no-one can take those away."

"I could never replace him. We may not have been well-off but we had quality of life.

"Today football is all about money and how much you can get. But Alf wasn't like that. He loved football and did it for the love of the game."

"Alf always turned down offers of money and I don't live in the lap of luxury.

"At the moment I don't know if the FA will give me a pension. I may have to sell up."

The FA are understood to have voluntarily boosted his pension a few years ago after hearing Sir Alf had fallen on hard times.

But, said a friend, his proud wife turned down offers to pay for medical bills after he suffered a stroke four years ago.

Instead she dipped into her savings to pay Sir Alf's pounds 500-a- week nursing home fees.

Last night Football Association spokesman Steve Double said: "Everybody recognises the contribution made by Sir Alf to the game.

"This news saddens and concerns us. In the last years of his life, the FA sought to help when we could. I'm sure this latest news will be discussed internally."

Sir Alf earned his place in the hearts of the nation when his England team beat West Germany 4-2 at Wembley to win the 1966 World Cup final.

He celebrated the victory with a cup of tea by the fireplace at home with Victoria and their adopted daughter Tanya, now married and living in America.

But many believe that he was shabbily treated by the Football Association.

Amazingly Sir Alf - appointed England manager in 1963 on a salary of pounds 2,000 - did not get a winner's medal, and was not even invited to a re-union of the 1966 team when England hosted the 1996 European Championships. When his reign as manager came to an end in 1974, he was being paid only pounds 7,000-a-year. His pay-off after 11 years of service was pounds 8,000 and his pension reportedly pounds 1,200-a-year.

Don Revie was appointed to replace him, on a pounds 40,000 salary - almost six times what Sir Alf was paid.

George Cohen, right-back in the 1966 England team, said yesterday: "Sir Alf didn't have any money. The FA paid him a pittance while he was manager, not enough for a decent pension.

"Sir Alf pulled off the greatest feat in English football history and yet he had next to nothing.

"They didn't really care, or they'd have done more about it. It makes you wince when you think how much some of them pay themselves. They don't know how to treat people properly. I think they were mean."

He added: "Sir Alf's retirement was one where he had to watch the pennies. But he was a proud Englishman. He didn't want anybody to know that he couldn't afford a new car or new suits.

"He thought it was his own business and nothing to do with anyone else. It's a big, big shame. I only hope Lady Victoria can afford to live on what's left."

Family friend of 30 years Elaine Coupland, 67, said: "Lady Victoria told me she is thinking of selling the house.

"There isn't a lot in the will. I can't see any other way of her getting around it. The last few years have been hard. They were retired for over 25 years living on his small pension from the FA. And it's amazing - he had to fight to get that pension.

"He told me that when he was sacked from the England manager's job in 1974 there was a dispute over the pension and he had to stick up for his rights.

"Sir Alf was always very dignified and he wouldn't have dreamt about moaning about money. But it's still very sad."

The 1966 World Cup team's agent, David Davis, said many of the players had offered to take part in benefit events to help Sir Alf out. "But the offers were always refused," said Mr Davis.

"Alf was his own man and we had to respect his wishes."

A family friend said: "After his stroke, the FA contacted Lady Victoria and offered to pay for his medical bills and for the nursing home, but, like Sir Alf, she was too proud to accept handouts."

Dr Neil Phillips, a team doctor for the 1966 squad, said: "One would hope the FA could help out although, like Alf, Lady Victoria is a very proud person.

"Alf worked in football at a time when money was irrelevant, but the way they have been treated is still a national disaster."

His accountant, Malcolm Slonims, refused to go into details about Sir Alf's finances. But when asked about the will, he added: "You'll have to draw your own conclusions."

When Sir Alf was alive, he admitted being hurt when he thought about the money paid to the managers who followed him - Don Revie, Ron Greenwood, Bobby Robson, Graham Taylor, Terry Venables and Glenn Hoddle - none of whom have managed to lead England to a European or World Cup trophy. He was quoted as saying: "I sometimes look back and become bitter about it.

"I achieved something that perhaps no manager will ever do again, yet the riches and wealth of the game has passed me by.

"I knew I did a good job, and then when I saw who took over from me, and what they were paid, I found that upsetting.

"I would have liked to have retired in comfort, and have no worries about money, but that has not been the case."

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