The Ball and the Brain: A Looming Crisis in Football's Darkest Corner The legacy of England's 1966 World Cup winning team is slowly fading from memory, but a stark reality remains: repeated heading of footballs has led to severe brain damage for many former players.
Nobby Stiles' case, ruled on by the coroner, serves as a grim reminder that this crisis is far from over.
The science behind chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and Alzheimer's disease has long been established: repeated blows to the head can cause irreparable damage to brain tissue.