Coroner rules inquest needed into Nobby Stiles' death

England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died with a traumatic brain injury, a court heard as a coroner ruled an inquest into his death must be held.

Stiles, 78, a former Manchester United footballer and 1966 World Cup winner, died with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been associated with head traumas claimed to be from repeatedly heading a football.

Chris Morris, area coroner for Greater Manchester South, told a court a full inquest was needed after a brain expert examined his medical records.

Stiles died in 2020, and his family has campaigned for football authorities to do more to help ex-players cope with injuries they claim were caused during their playing days.

Norbert “Nobby” Stiles, born in Manchester in 1942, was a tough-tackling defensive midfielder, capped 28 times by England and played nearly 400 times for Man Utd.

Mr Morris told Stockport coroner’s court “for reasons not entirely clear to me” Stiles’s death was not at the time reported to the coroner’s office for investigation, which had only begun after information provided by the ex-footballer’s family.

The coroner said Stiles’s brain had been examined by neuropathology expert, Dr Daniel du Plessis.

Following examination and review of Stiles’s medical records, Dr Du Plessis expressed the opinion Stiles’s cause of death was Alzheimer’s disease.

But he also said his death was contributed to by high-stage CTE, along with what was described as “stage three limbic predominant age related TDP-43” and small vessel cerebrovascular disease.

Mr Morris said: “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.”

The coroner said a full inquest hearing will be held on Wednesday at the same court.

Heading a ball

Stiles’s son John has previously said that football had “killed” his father.

John Stiles is head of the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) group which is calling on the football authorities to do more to support ex-players.

His father was forced to sell his winner’s medals to fund his dementia care.

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.

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 Football Association 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 Gordon McQueen, 70, an ex-Scotland, Man Utd 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.

The FA co-funded with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) 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 FA is phasing out all heading in youth football up to under-11s by 2026.

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