Dementia curse claims its fourth World Cup legend

NOBBY Stiles is the fourth member of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team to die after being diagnosed with dementia – and the third in the last 12 months.

Defender Ray Wilson was the first to die in

May 2018, followed by Martin Peters, who scored the second goal in the final, last December and Jack Charlton in August.

Manager Sir Alf Ramsey, a former England captain, also suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, as did squad members Gerry Byrne and goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, who died in April.

Other England internationals who died after being diagnosed with dementia include Jeff Astle, Stan Mortensen, Nat Lofthouse, Stan Cullis, Joe Mercer, and Johnny Brookes.

More former England stars are still living with the disease, including QPR legend Stan Bowles and European Cup winner Gordon Cowans, of Aston Villa, who revealed his diagnosis in March, aged 61.

The Jeff Astle Foundation knows of more than 300 exfootballers who have been diagnosed with dementia .

It sparked fears footballers were suffering brain damage caused by heading the ball daily in training, but for years the problem was ignored with no funding for vital research.

The first evidence of a link emerged when a pathologist examined Astle’s brain after he died and discovered CTE – known as boxer’s brain – caused by repeated blows to the head. A coroner ruled the West Brom striker was killed by an industrial disease.

The same verdict was recorded at an inquest into the death of former Everton and Hull City star Alan Jarvis earlier this month, after a postmortem revealed similar brain damage.

But after campaigns by Jeff Astle’s family, the Mirror, and Alan Shearer, the Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association funded the FIELD study revealing footballers are three and a half times more likely to get dementia.

That prompted the FA to ban children under 12 heading the ball in training, but there are no measures to protect current professionals or support retired players with those diseases.

A University of Leeds study concluded the speed of a football causes more damage than its weight, suggesting modern footballers could be at even greater risk.

The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council is now investigating whether dementia should be designated an industrial disease for footballers, with the prospect of families bringing multi-million pound lawsuits for failing to protect players.

ALERT Mirror raised awareness