Nobby Stiles

Norbert Peter Stiles (18 May 194230 October 2020) was an English footballer and manager.

He played for England for five years, winning 28 caps and scoring one goal.

He achieved a childhood ambition when, in the same year, the club he supported gave him an apprenticeship in September 1959.

Stiles was an unlikely-looking footballer in many ways – he was short, at a time when teenagers were being rejected by clubs purely because of their lack of height; he also had several teeth missing and wore dentures, the removal of which prior to matches gave him a gap-toothed expression which had the potential to scare.

He became significantly bald at a young age and sported a dramatic comb-over.

He was also severely short-sighted, and needed strong contact lenses when playing, and wore thick spectacles off the field.

Nevertheless, Manchester United manager Matt Busby saw something in the tenacious youngster.

Stiles was given his debut as a full back in October 1960 against Bolton Wanderers.

Stiles's simple passing game and fearless ball-winning skills saw his swift conversion into a "holding" midfield player of a type now a feature of all top teams but still a rarity at a time when forward lines consisted of five players and the midfield was restricted to covering half-backs.

His ability to gain and retain possession also allowed his teammates, such as Bobby Charlton and, later, George Best, to utilise more space on the field.

Stiles's defensive skills were also utilised by United managers to great effect throughout his successful career.

That said, Busby was not afraid to sacrifice Stiles when required and when United beat Leicester City 3–1 in the 1963 FA Cup final, Stiles was not picked for the game.

He began to make more frequent appearances in the seasons ahead, however, and won the First Division title in 1965.

Stiles was tested out for this role in a 2–2 draw against Scotland at Wembley on 10 April 1965.

He kept his place for eight of the next nine internationals, scoring the only goal in a Wembley win against West Germany along the way, and by the time Ramsey confirmed his 22, it was thought likely that he would be in England's starting team for the World Cup.

He played every minute of England's victorious 1966 FIFA World Cup campaign.

In the semi-final of that tournament against Portugal, he was given the job of marking the prolific Eusébio.

His tough performance resulted in Eusébio being practically nullified for the entire game.

Stiles also played in the final, which England won 4–2 against West Germany.

His post-match dance on the Wembley pitch, holding the World Cup trophy in one hand and his false teeth in the other, was widely broadcast.

Stiles spent the majority of his club career for Manchester United, spending eleven years at Old Trafford, where he became renowned for his tough tackling and ball-winning qualities.

With England hosting the World Cup in 1966, manager Alf Ramsey had no competitive qualifying campaign to prepare, and therefore he spent the prior two years meticulously assessing players in friendly matches and British Home Championship games.

With Bobby Charlton the only certainty for his World Cup midfield, he needed to create a trio of players to complement the Manchester United attacker and among those was the requirement for a "spoiler".

In 1967, Stiles won his second League championship medal with Manchester United, but greater club honours were to come.

United reached the European Cup final, which was to be staged at Wembley, and Stiles's old nemesis Eusébio was again someone he had to deal with as part of a fearsome attacking potential posed by opponents Benfica.

Stiles played well without keeping Eusébio wholly quiet, and with the score at 1–1 and just a few minutes left, the Portuguese legend got away from the United defence with just goalkeeper Alex Stepney to beat, yet only managed to slam the ball straight into Stepney's midriff.

United won 4–1 and became the first English club to lift Europe's main trophy.

After 395 matches and 19 goals, Manchester United sold Stiles in 1971 to Middlesbrough for £20,000.

Two years later, he became a player-coach at Preston North End when Bobby Charlton was manager.

Jonathan Wilson, writing for The Guardian in 2013, labelled Stiles as a type of holding midfielder he described as a "destroyer", a player who is primarily tasked with running, winning back possession, and distributing the ball to other players.

With the Red Devils, he won two League titles and one European Cup.

Stiles is one of only three Englishmen, alongside Bobby Charlton and Ian Callaghan, to have won both the World Cup and European Cup.

Stiles also had short spells with Middlesbrough and Preston North End.

Stiles grew up in Collyhurst, a working-class district of North Manchester, attending the local St Patrick's Catholic (Primary) School.

He was born in the cellar of the family home during an air raid, the son of Charlie, a manager of an undertakers' parlour in a family business, and Kitty, who supplemented the family income working as a machinist.

He was of Irish descent.

Stiles supported Manchester United and his talent was swiftly recognised when he played for England Schoolboys at the age of 15.

Stiles won his 15th cap as England kicked off the competition with a goalless draw against Uruguay and maintained his place as the uncompromising hardman playing ahead of the back four and making sure there was space and time for the likes of Charlton ahead of him.

With Stiles not missing a minute, England progressed through the group with wins over Mexico and France and then scraped past a violent Argentina side in the last eight.

In the France game, Stiles seriously injured their midfielder Jacques Simon with a late tackle and there were calls from the media and FA for Stiles to be dropped.