England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died with a brain condition caused by repeatedly heading a football, a coroner has ruled.
Stiles, 78, a former Manchester United footballer and 1966 World Cup winner, died with severe dementia and had headed a football around 140,000 times during the course of his career, Stockport Coroner’s Court heard at the inquest into his death.
Expert analysis of his brain showed his severe dementia was as a result of Alzheimer’s disease but also the condition, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been associated with head trauma from heading a ball.
I know many people that have died we’ll before 78 that had no heading of footballs, or soccer balls. I wouldn’t blame Nobby Stiles’s death on that.