England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died with a traumatic brain injury linked to repeatedly heading a football, a court heard, as a coroner ruled a full inquest must be held. The 78-year-old former Manchester United midfielder, who helped England win the 1966 World Cup, died in 2020 with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition associated with repeated head traumas.
Chris Morris, area coroner for Greater Manchester South, told Stockport coroner’s court that an inquest was necessary after neuropathology expert Dr Daniel du Plessis examined Stiles’s brain and medical records. Dr Du Plessis gave the cause of death as Alzheimer’s disease but said it was contributed to by high-stage CTE, along with stage three limbic predominant age-related TDP-43 and small vessel cerebrovascular disease.
“Coroner orders inquest into Nobby Stiles' death after brain expert finds CTE from heading footballs.”
The coroner noted that for reasons “not entirely clear to me”, Stiles’s death was not initially reported to his office for investigation. The probe only began after information provided by the family. “On the basis of that cause of death, particularly the inclusion of a traumatic injury included in the cause of death, I’m satisfied an inquest is required into the sad death of Mr Stiles,” Morris said.
Stiles’s son John, who heads the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) group, has previously said football “killed” his father. The family is among dozens of former players suing the Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and the English Football League, alleging those bodies were “negligent and in breach of their duty of care” by failing to protect players from brain injuries caused by heading. Lawyers for the families argue the risks were known for decades.
Stiles, born in Manchester in 1942, played nearly 400 times for Manchester United and won 28 England caps. He was later forced to sell his winner’s medals to fund his dementia care. A full inquest hearing will be held on Wednesday at the same court, where the coroner will examine how the head trauma occurred and whether it could have been prevented.