England World Cup winner died with brain condition caused by heading football

England World Cup winner died with brain condition caused by heading football reports findings from a coroner’s inquest linking Nobby Stiles’ death to repeated heading and an associated brain condition. The coroner ruled that Stiles, 78, a 1966 World Cup winner and former Manchester United player, died with severe dementia. The court heard he had headed a football around 140,000 times during his career, and medical analysis attributed his severe dementia to Alzheimer’s disease while also identifying chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition linked to head trauma from heading. A neuro-pathology expert, Dr Daniel Du Plessis, told the court he was “quite convinced” that Stiles’ repeated heading caused his CTE. Stiles died in October 2020 after a long illness, and his family has campaigned for football authorities to do more for former players. The inquest followed information provided by his family.