Overview
- Stockport Coroner's Court concluded on Wednesday that neuropathology showed Alzheimer’s disease together with high-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy and that repeated heading contributed to Stiles’ CTE.
- A neuropathology expert told the inquest he was convinced Stiles’ repeated heading caused the CTE, and the coroner formally recorded those conditions as contributing to his death.
- Family evidence at the hearing estimated Stiles headed the ball roughly 136,000–140,000 times and described training practices such as heading a ball hung from a string at Old Trafford.
- John Stiles and the Football Families for Justice are among dozens of former players and relatives suing the FA, FAW and EFL for negligence while the FA has told the High Court it says science has not definitively established causation from heading.
- The ruling follows a 2019 FA/PFA-funded study that found former professionals had a much higher risk of neurodegenerative disease and could intensify calls for compensation, expanded care for ex-players, and further rule changes for youth football.