Nobby Stiles: 'No doubt' heading caused ex-footballer's death, says son John

'No doubt' heading caused ex-footballer's death, says family

Nobby Stiles' son says he has "no doubt" heading balls contributed to his father's death after a post-mortem found the former footballer's brain was affected by a dementia believed to be caused by repeated blows.

The ex-Manchester United and England midfielder died in October aged 78.

John Stiles said he "felt vindicated" as the results backed his initial view.

"There is one common theme with the footballers, and I think it's because of where they get the damage," he said.

Stiles is the fifth member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad to have been diagnosed with dementia.

His son John, himself a former midfielder with Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers, previously said it was "blatantly obvious" repeated heading of a football was responsible for causing the syndrome among ex-professionals.

When asked whether he remained with no doubt, Stiles added: "Absolutely none, no doubt whatsoever.

"They've demanded that scientists come up with proof - when it's a brain thing it is difficult," he said.

"I think in my dad's career at United he probably headed a ball between 70,000 and 100,000 times. Every time the ball is hitting the head, the brain is hitting the front of the skull."

Nobby Stiles' brain was diagnosed as having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - a form of degenerative disease dementia - by Dr Willie Stewart, consultant neuropathologist at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

Stewart told BBC Sport: "The one thing that unites all these different cases is this exposure to brain injury - we don't see it in people with dementia who haven't had very severe brain injury."

Upon examining Stiles' brain, the neuropathologist said what he saw was consistent with others who had suffered from CTE, although Stewart said it was difficult to conclusively state heading balls was the cause of Stiles' dementia later in life.

He added: "I think what we do is we take all the circumstantial evidence. We only see it in people with a history of brain injury and only in the highest exposure to brain injury, and I haven't seen it anywhere else.

"So I think that's enough for us to say until we come up with a better solution, head injuries and head impacts is what we are worried about."

John Stiles has previously said that football needs to "address the scandal" of dementia in the game.

The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) has said it is beginning a "process of consultation" with members who have experience of neurodegenerative conditions and are funding "three separate studies" into the issue.

The Football Association said: "We continue to work closely with the Alzheimer's Society and, alongside other sport governing bodies, we are pleased to be a part of their Sport United Against Dementia campaign to help raise awareness and gain support for their valuable work."

Football authorities to discuss restricting heading

The Premier League's medical adviser Dr Mark Gillett will chair a discussion involving football's authorities on Tuesday about whether to restrict heading in the adult game.

Representatives from the Football Association (FA), English Football League and PFA will be present at the meeting of a sub-group of the Professional Football Negotiating and Consultative Committee (PFNCC).

The FA said last year that its research taskforce was exploring "possible changes" to heading coaching and training "at all levels to decrease overall exposure to heading without compromising technique".

Changes have already been made regarding heading in training at youth level.

In February, the FA banned heading in training for children aged 11 and under, with the new rules applying to England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

For under-18s the guidance was updated so that headers were kept a "low priority" for under-12 to under-16 age groups.

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