Stiles ejected for warning of head injuries

JOHN STILES, son of World Cup winner Nobby, has been kicked out of a training ground for handing out leaflets to players warning them about the dangers of heading the ball.

The former Leeds United defender lost his father last October to dementia and has produced a leaflet at his own expense that uses the latest medical research to highlight the risks involved with the game. This week Stiles visited the training ground of Doncaster Rovers, one of his former clubs, to distribute the pamphlets but was told to leave.

Undeterred, he now plans to write to every professional club in the country to ask if he can deliver a presentation to what he believes are thousands of unaware footballers.

‘It struck me, since Jeff Astle’s diagnosis there has not been one piece of literature ever sent to players warning of the risks — not one,’ Stiles (below) told Sportsmail. ‘I don’t want these lads to get it — young, innocent lads who haven’t been warned.’ The leaflet outlines the research and pulls few punches. ‘You’re not talking about sore knees. You can replace a knee — you can’t replace a brain.’ And Stiles believes his father would have backed his actions.

‘Dad’s brain was riddled with CTE (a degenerative disease triggered by repeated head impacts) and I know heading the ball killed him,’ he said.

‘We can’t change what happened to Dad but we can make others aware of it and I think he would have wanted me to do that.’ Stiles was not surprised to be dismissed. ‘I was told I couldn’t talk to players. I waved a few cars down and they were very polite. But the last car’s driver told me they’d been told they couldn’t speak to me.’

A Doncaster Rovers spokesperson said: ‘The training ground is private property and is under strict Covid protocols. We had no advanced knowledge of John’s arrival and he entered without permission. The club would welcome a formal approach from John.’

Nobby’s family have donated his brain for medical research so it can be examined for signs of football-induced damage. That follows findings in Dr Willie Stewart’s FIELD study, which showed that ex-players are three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative diseases than the general public and five times more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.