Nobby Stiles died with traumatic brain injury CTE, coroner rules full inquest required

England World Cup winner and Manchester United legend Nobby Stiles died with a traumatic brain injury, a coroner ruled at Stockport Coroner’s Court on Friday, ordering that a full inquest into his October 2020 death be held on 15 July.

Area coroner for Greater Manchester South, Chris Morris, told the court that neuropathology expert Dr Daniel du Plessis had examined brain samples and medical records and concluded that Stiles’s primary cause of death was Alzheimer’s disease. However, Dr du Plessis also found his death was contributed to by high-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a condition associated with repeated head trauma — along with “stage three limbic predominant age-related TDP-43” and small vessel cerebrovascular disease.

“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,” Morris said.

Stiles, born in Manchester in 1942, was a tenacious defensive midfielder who earned 28 England caps and made nearly 400 appearances for Manchester United. He was a central figure in two of English football’s most celebrated moments: England’s 1966 World Cup triumph and United’s 1968 European Cup victory, which made them the first English club to lift the trophy.

The coroner noted that, “for reasons not entirely clear to me”, Stiles’s death was not reported to the coroner’s office at the time and that the investigation had only begun following information provided by his family.

Stiles’s son John, who heads the Football Families for Justice (FFJ) group, has previously said that football “killed” his father and has campaigned for football authorities to provide greater support to former players. The family was also forced to sell Stiles’s winner’s medals to fund his dementia care.

John Stiles is among dozens of former footballers and their families who are suing the Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the English Football League, alleging the bodies were “negligent and in breach of their duty of care” to former players. Lawyers representing the claimants have argued that football’s governing bodies knew, or should have known, about the long-term neurological risks associated with heading the ball.