A coroner confirmed that the consistent heading of a ball played a role in the passing of Nobby Stiles, an England World Cup champion. Stiles, a former Manchester United player and member of the 1966 World Cup-winning team, passed away at 78 with severe dementia. Throughout his career, he headed a football approximately 140,000 times, as revealed during the inquest at Stockport Coroner’s Court.
According to expert analysis of his brain, Stiles suffered from severe dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition linked to head trauma from heading a ball. Dr. Daniel Du Plessis, a neuro-pathology expert, stated in court that the extensive heading likely caused Stiles’s CTE.
Born in Manchester in 1942, Norbert “Nobby” Stiles was known as a resilient defensive midfielder who represented England 28 times and played nearly 400 games for Manchester United. He passed away in October 2020 after battling a prolonged illness. Subsequently, his family has been advocating for greater support from football authorities for former players dealing with injuries sustained during their playing careers.
John Stiles, head of the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) group, has been urging football authorities to take more action after his father had to sell his winner’s medals to cover dementia care costs. The family, along with other former players and their families, is currently suing football governing bodies over alleged negligence and breach of duty of care, claiming that the risks of heading the ball were well-known for decades.
In a related incident, an inquest into the death of Gordon McQueen, a former Scotland, Manchester United, and Leeds United defender, indicated that heading the ball likely contributed to a brain injury that played a role in his passing at 70. McQueen was also diagnosed with CTE, leading to his daughter, Hayley McQueen, highlighting the impact of neurodegenerative diseases on England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team members.
The Football Association (FA), in collaboration with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), co-funded a 2019 study showing that footballers are significantly more prone to neurodegenerative diseases compared to the general population. As a response, the FA plans to phase out heading in youth football up to under-11s by 2026, aiming to mitigate the risks associated with heading the ball.