Stiles and many of his 1966 World Cup winning team mates had been diagnosed with dementia before their deaths while Manchester United great Bobby Charlton, 83, also disclosed his diagnosis recently.
Stiles’ family hoped it would be a catalyst for addressing dementia while Geoff Hurst, England’s hat-trick hero from the 1966 final, said heading the ball often in practice was dangerous and kids should not be doing it at all.
“If they find out through the research that heading the ball 10 times during training is going to cause you dementia, then let’s stop it,” West Bromwich Albion boss Slaven Bilic told reporters.
“For me, the great thing is they are talking about it and recognising it.”