Inquest into Nobby Stiles' death requested by coroner as CTE again linked with heading in football

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FT Desk

An inquest into the death of World Cup winner Nobby Stiles has been requested after a coroner determined that the World Cup winner died of a traumatic brain injury linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Stiles was one of the most decorated footballers of his era, winning the World Cup with England in 1966 and two First Divisions and one European Cup with Manchester United, among other accolades.

He passed away in 2020 at Manor Hay Care Centre in Manchester, aged 78. He had been suffering from prostate cancer and dementia, the latter brought on due to CTE.

Following his death, Stiles' brain was donated to the FIELD study, led by Dr Willie Stewart, which investigates the relationship between dementia and heading in professional football. He was one of five members of England's 1966 World Cup-winning team to develop dementia, with several of those players ultimately dying from the condition.

Chris Morris, area coroner for Greater Manchester South, told a court a full inquest was needed after a brain expert, Dr Daniel du Plessis, examined Stiles' medical records.

Dr Du Plessis determined that Alzheimer's Disease, CTE, and "stage three limbic predominant age-related TDP-43" and small vessel cerebrovascular disease were the joint cause of death.

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."

No link between heading and CTE...?

The English Football Association previously told the High Court that there is no proven link between heading a football and brain damage, as it responded to a legal claim by former players.

Ninety-six former footballers, including the family of Stiles filed a claim with the High Court but the FA say that the hypothesis linking neurological damage with heading “remains unproven”.

Stiles and former Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear were both diagnosed with CTE after their deaths, while in January, an inquest determined that Gordon McQueen's brain disease and subsequent death in 2023 has been linked to repeatedly heading balls as a professional footballer.

The former Manchester United and Leeds United defender was diagnosed with vascular dementia in January of 2021 and passed away in June of 2023 at the age of 70.

An inquest into his death was held in North Yorkshire and senior coroner John Heath told the court:

"I have found that Mr McQueen suffered repetitive head impacts during his career.

"I am satisfied that on the balance of probability that repeatedly heading footballs contributed to his developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

"The combination of CTE and vascular dementia led to pneumonia. I find the cause of death pneumonia, vascular dementia and CTE. It is likely that repetitive head impacts, sustained by heading the ball while playing football, contributed to the CTE."

The FA’s defence, first reported by The Daily Telegraph, stated: “It is denied that repeated heading of a football and/or repeated concussion has been established to cause permanent brain damage and/or long-term neurological damage.

“It is not established that either heading or concussive incidents experienced during football cause CTE and/or that any symptoms experienced by those subsequently diagnosed with CTE are likely to have been the result of CTE, and/or were the result of playing football.”

Despite these claims from the FA, they have previously banned heading in games and in training for children under the age of 11, while they continue to fund research into the issue.

Twenty years ago and beyond, it was the norm for players of all ages and levels to head the ball not only during matches, but during training as well. In modern times, youth coaches have been warned to minimise heading in matches, where possible, and completely ban heading from training altogether.

An FA spokeswoman said: “While the link between heading in football and long-term brain health remains the subject of ongoing scientific and medical research, we have consistently been at the forefront of efforts to help improve the safety of our game.

“We were the first governing body to introduce comprehensive heading guidelines across both professional and grassroots football, and we continue to review and enhance our game-wide concussion protocols in line with worldwide best practice.

“We have also invested in and actively supported multiple independent research projects, often resulting in groundbreaking and valuable insight, in order to gain a greater understanding of this complex area through objective, robust and thorough analysis.”