Four years after his death, a coroner has ruled that England's 1966 World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died with a brain condition caused by repeatedly heading a football. The former Manchester United midfielder, who headed a ball an estimated 140,000 times during his career, passed away aged 78 in October 2020 after years of severe dementia.
At an inquest in Stockport, neuropathology expert Dr Daniel Du Plessis told the court: 'I'm quite convinced his heading the football that many times has caused his CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy].' Senior Coroner Alison Mutch recorded the cause of death as Alzheimer's disease, contributed to by CTE, along with another neurodegenerative condition and cerebrovascular disease.
“World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died with brain disease from heading footballs, coroner rules, as son warns of many more inquests.”
Stiles' son John, who heads the Football Families for Justice group, had campaigned for a full investigation. Speaking outside court after the hearing, he said the ruling was 'no surprise' but accused the football industry of refusing to help former players, warning that his father's case 'could be the first of many similar inquests.'
During the hearing, John Stiles described how heading the ball was central to training. 'Heading the ball in training was absolutely massive,' he said, estimating that his father headed the ball 40 times a day, five days a week over each 10-month season. He recalled that Old Trafford used to have a ball hanging from the stand for players to head.
Despite his fame, Stiles remained humble. 'If you went into his house you would never know he was a footballer,' John said. 'He was very much a family man, football was left at the door.' At the end of his life, Stiles had to sell his World Cup winner's medals to fund his care.
Stiles, born in Collyhurst, Manchester, won 28 caps for England and made nearly 400 appearances for Manchester United. He was described by teammate Geoff Hurst as the 'heart and soul' of the 1966 team. The inquest also heard that his death had not been reported by authorities to the coroner's office.
John Stiles said his father was 'very humble – he just happened to achieve quite a lot in the professional game.' The coroner noted that football 'wasn't a dominant factor' in his dad's life, to which John replied: 'It really wasn't at all – he never talked about it – it was just something that happened to him. We were much more proud of the father than the footballer.'