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Coroner: Nobby Stiles’ CTE Linked to 140,000 Headers

7/15/2026

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Story summary
  • Coroner Alison Mutch ruled that World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died with chronic traumatic encephalopathy caused by repeatedly heading a football.
  • The inquest estimated Stiles headed the ball about 140,000 times, with a conservative figure of 136,000.
  • Dr Daniel Du Plessis testified the repeated headings caused Stiles’s CTE and severe dementia.
  • Mutch said she will file a Prevention of Future Death report to the FA and the Department of Education.