The England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died with a brain condition caused by repeatedly heading a football, a coroner has ruled. Stiles, a tenacious midfielder who played for Manchester United and England, died in 2020 at the age of 78, but his death was not reported by authorities to the coroner’s office until his family campaigned for a full investigation.
At an inquest in Stockport, Senior Coroner Alison Mutch said Stiles’s death was contributed to by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain condition linked to head trauma from heading the ball. The court heard that Stiles headed a football approximately 140,000 times during his career. Neuropathology expert Dr Daniel Du Plessis told the court: 'I’m quite convinced his heading the football that many times has caused his CTE.'
Stiles, who was part of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in his later years and had to sell his winner’s medals to fund his care. Analysis of his brain showed severe dementia caused by both Alzheimer’s and CTE, which coroner Mutch said was directly attributable to repeated heading.
Stiles’s son John, who leads the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) group, has previously said that football 'killed' his father. At the inquest, he described his father as a humble family man who never bragged about his achievements. John Stiles noted that footballs in his father’s era weighed 16 ounces and became heavier when wet.
The family is among dozens of former players and their relatives suing the Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the English Football League, alleging negligence and breach of duty of care. The inquest follows a similar ruling in January for former defender Gordon McQueen, whose death was found to be likely contributed to by heading the ball.
