England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles’ death was contributed to by a brain condition caused by repeatedly heading a football, a coroner has ruled.
Mr Stiles said that when his father was in his late 50s and early 60s his family noticed he began forgetting things and repeating himself. In 2010 he sold his winning medals to pay for his care as his mental struggles progressed, leaving him with increasing anxiety and a sense of doom.
Alison Mutch, senior coroner for South Manchester, asked Dr Du Plessis: “You are saying repeated heading of the ball is the cause of his CTE?” Neuro-pathology expert, Dr Daniel Du Plessis told the court: “I’m quite convinced his heading the football that many times has caused his CTE.”
The FA co-funded, with the Professional Footballers' Association, 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.