He was a 1966 World Cup hero, then the game Nobby Stiles loved ‘abandoned’ him

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Yet as Nobby Stiles’ health began to deteriorate and he began to lose his faculties, his family claim he was ‘abandoned’ by the game he so dearly loved, despite it ‘rolling in cash.’

That was even more heartbreaking for his loved ones who always suspected that his dementia was at least in part the result of his career and how often he was required to head the ball.

Yesterday (July 16), a brain expert and a coroner both vindicated that view. Following an inquest into Nobby’s death, where she received evidence from a renowned neuropathologist, Senior coroner Alison Mutch said that as well as Alzheimer’s disease, the former footballer had a degenerative brain condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is caused by repeated impacts to the head.

Ms Mutch concluded the CTE had ‘significantly contributed’ to his death and that she was ‘entirely satisfied’ that the reason he developed the condition was ‘repeated heading of the ball.’

Nobby’s son John Stiles told the hearing that his dad even a ‘very conservative’ estimate his dad would have headed a ball 40 times a day, five days a week, each ten month season across a 17-year career, which meant he could have headed the ball more than 136,000 times.

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He said his father was in his 50s when the family first started noticing he was ‘forgetting things’ and that things got gradually ‘worse and worse’ He said there was a ‘feeling of doom’ in the family and that in 2010 Nobby decided to sell his medals as he ‘didn’t know what was coming but knew something was coming’ and wanted a pot to pay for his care.

His World Cup winning medal was bought by Manchester United’s club museum for £160,000. His 1968 European Cup winners’ medal sold for £49,402, with a total of 45 items of memorabilia selling for £424,438.

Nobby, who lived in Stretford, eventually moved into a care home in nearby Urmston, where tragically died on October 30, 2020.

The inquest heard that at the time of his death he was ‘severely disabled through dementia’ including being ‘bed bound, immobile and mute.’

Ms Mutch said: “For a man who graced the pitches of some of the world’s greatest football grounds, it is difficult to imagine a sadder way to end their life.”

John Stiles alerted the coroner after examination of Nobby’s brain by renowned brain expert Dr Willie Stewart identified the presence of CTE. The coroner instructed another examination by esteemed neuropathologist Dr Daniel Du Plessis.

He told the inquest: “”I’m quite convinced his heading the football that many times has caused his CTE.”

Adding: “This is a very complicated issue and it is important to use such a death to highlight – that we do now know repeated head injuries have an impact on the brain.”

Speaking afterwards, John Stiles said he predicted an ‘epidemic’ of similar cases as he said thousands of players such as his dad, had been ‘abandoned.’

Mr Stiles is now head of the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) group which is calling on the football authorities to do more for ex-players. He is among dozens of former footballers and their families suing the Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and the English Football League over claims they were “negligent and in breach of their duty of care” to the former players.

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Lawyers for the former players and their families have previously said football bodies knew or should have known that repeatedly heading a ball in training and during matches was likely to cause brain injuries, and that the risks were known for decades.

In March this year lawyers for the FA told the High Court it has ‘not been established by science’ that heading a ball or ‘occasional’ concussion can lead to permanent brain damage.

In January an inquest into the death of Gordon McQueen, 70, an ex-Scotland, Manchester United and Leeds United defender, found that heading the ball was ‘likely’ to have contributed to a brain injury which was a factor in his death.

McQueen was also diagnosed with CTE. McQueen’s TV presenter daughter Hayley McQueen said England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team had now been “pretty much wiped out” by neurodegenerative disease.

And following his father’s inquest, John Stiles said more needed to be done to help those affected by the issue.

“I think this will among the first few of thousands of such inquests of players who have incurred brain disease” he said. “The football industry refused to provide help to these players and their families and the government refuses to intervene.

“Tragically the brain injuries epidemic will grow more and more as so many more girls play football. Women’s brains are even more suspectable to damage from heading. The industry and government have failed to implement a strategy of prevention. Today’s players incur the same, fatal brain injuries.

‘It is a shame and a scandal that the industry and government have failed to support these vulnerable people’

“As we rightly celebrate the football heroes of today, 60 years after the heroics of 1966, it is right to remember people like dad, and the thousands of others, abandoned by a industry ‘rolling in cash.’

“It is a shame and a scandal that the industry and the government have failed to support these vulnerable people.”

He said the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the trade union which ‘was supposed to be protect the players and which they paid their subs to’ had been ‘nowhere to be seen.’

He dubbed the £1 million fund the PFA launched with the Premier League in 2023 to ‘assist former players, and their families, who have been impacted by dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions’ as being ‘pathetic.’

“It is not adequate” he said. “It’s a PR stunt. We desperately need a proper fund that will take care of players, in particular when they need care home costs.”

He also said there needed to be better education for players on the risks. “Everyone needs to be aware of CTE” he said. ”We have got an epidemic here. If you head the ball thousands of times, you will get CTE more likely than not. This disease is everywhere but there is still massive ignorance about.”

“We have to do something about it, drastically,” he continued. “We don’t want to stop people heading the ball. But youngsters now are not informed about the risks. If someone is informed, then they can make a proper decision. But football has not addressed this.”

Mr Stiles, himself a former footballer who played for Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers and Rochdale amongst other clubs, said his enjoyment of the game had ‘soured a long time ago’ “Every week I talk to families who are going through the same thing my family went through” he said as he said the coroner’s findings had given him ‘some comfort.’

Ms Mutch said she planned to write to the FA and also to the Department of Education about heading in school PE lessons.

The FA co-funded with the Professional Footballers’ Association a 2019 study that found footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the general population. The governing body is phasing out all heading in youth football up to under-11s by 2026.

An FA spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News: “Nobby Stiles was one of English football’s most influential players and he was a key member of our 1966 World Cup-winning team.

“His contribution to both our national and domestic game helped to shape one of the most significant eras in English football history, and we were deeply saddened by his passing in 2020.

“While the link between heading in football and long-term brain health remains the subject of ongoing scientific and medical research, we have consistently been at the forefront of efforts to help improve the safety of our game.

We have led the way in this area to proactively review and strengthen player welfare across every level of English football, working closely with our domestic and international stakeholders.

“We were the first governing body to introduce comprehensive heading guidelines across both professional and grassroots football, and we continue to review and enhance our game-wide concussion protocols in line with worldwide best practice.

“We have also invested in and actively supported multiple independent research projects, often resulting in groundbreaking and valuable insight, in order to gain a greater understanding of this complex area through objective, robust and thorough analysis.”