[ad_1]
World Cup winner England midfielder Nobby Stiles died at the age of 78 after a long illness.
The former Manchester United player had prostate cancer and advanced dementia.
Stiles is the seventh member of the England team to start the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany to die, after captain Bobby Moore, Alan Ball, Ray Wilson, Gordon Banks, Martin Peters and Jack Charlton.
Manchester-born Stiles earned an MBE in 2000.
A statement issued by his family said: “The Stiles family is saddened to announce that Nobby Stiles passed away peacefully today surrounded by his family after a long illness.
“The family kindly asks for privacy at this sad time.”
Stiles won 28 games for England and played a key role in neutralizing Portuguese star Eusebio in the 1966 semi-final before another strong showing in a spectacular 4-2 overtime win over West Germany.
At the club level, Stiles won two English league titles and the 1968 European Cup during an 11-year career with Manchester United.
He made nearly 400 appearances for the Red Devils between 1960 and 1971, and went on to play for Middlesbrough and Preston North End before retiring in 1975.
He moved to management with Preston between 1977 and 1981, then had a short and unsuccessful stint in charge at West Bromwich Albion during the 1985-86 season.
In 1989, United asked him to return as coach of the youth team and helped develop such players as Red Devils legends Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.
“It saddens me to learn that Nobby Stiles has passed away,” said former England striker Gary Lineker.
“Another one of our 1966 World Cup winning heroes leaves us. He had a heart that was even bigger than the gap between his teeth. RIP Nobby.”
The England national team said they were “incredibly saddened” to learn of Stiles’ death and that “all our thoughts are with Nobby’s loved ones.”
Former Preston and Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson said that Stiles “more than anyone made me a player in Preston, an absolute gentleman as well. Love of family, very sad day.”
After leaving Old Trafford in 1993, Stiles became a popular after-dinner speaker.
But he fell away from the public eye as his health deteriorated: had a mild stroke in 2010, and then he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer.
In 2010, he sold his World Cup and European Cup medals, which Manchester United bought for a combined total of more than £ 200,000.
A road is named after him in Collyhurst, the area of Manchester city center where he grew up. in May 2016.
In a BBC documentary screened in 2017, Stiles’ son John told former England captain Alan Shearer that he was “totally convinced” that directing a soccer ball was responsible for his father’s dementia.
