Nobby Stiles death linked to heading footballs

A coroner has ruled that England 1966 World Cup winner Nobby Stiles, who died in 2020 aged 78, had a brain condition caused by repeatedly heading a football during his career. Stockport Coroner's Court heard that Stiles headed a football approximately 140,000 times during his playing career at Manchester United and with England, for whom he earned 28 caps. Neuro-pathology expert Dr Daniel Du Plessis confirmed that Stiles suffered from both Alzheimer's disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), with the CTE directly attributed to the repeated heading of the ball.