The former Manchester United midfielder had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and also battled prostate cancer in recent years.
Yesterday, his family said they were “sad to announce that Nobby passed away peacefully surrounded by his family after a long illness”.
He is the seventh star of the 1966 World Cup-winning team that defeated West Germany 4-2 to die.
Nobby tragically joins lost 1966 heroes Bobby Moore, Alan Ball, Ray Wilson, Gordon Banks, Martin Peters and Jack Charlton.
Known as the “toothless tiger”, he is often remembered for his celebratory dance around Wembley after the famous World Cup victory. He won 28 England caps in all. Tributes flooded in yesterday. Sir Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat-trick in that final, said: “Hugely sad to hear Nobby has passed away. Great character and the heart and soul of the team, he will be sorely missed.”
An England national team statement said: “All of our thoughts are with Nobby’s loved ones.”
Manchester United, the club where Nobby made 395 appearances from 1960 to 1971, said: “An integral part of our first ever European Cup-winning side, Nobby was a titan of the club’s history, cherished for his heart and personality on and off the pitch.”
Ex-United defender Gary Neville tweeted a picture of himself as a youngster with thenyouth coach Nobby, saying: “Thank you for all you did for us. You taught us how to fight for everything in that red shirt.”
Nobby’s old teammate Alex Stepney said: “We called him Happy, because wherever we were in the world he made us laugh. He kept us going.”
Legendary England striker Gary Lineker tweeted: “Another of our 1966 World Cup-winning heroes leaves us.
“He had a heart that was even bigger than the gap in his teeth.
RIP Nobby.” Former Chelsea striker and BBC pundit Chris Sutton said: “Such sad news about Nobby Stiles.
“A World Cup winner and one of the game’s great characters lost to Alzheimer’s.”
Norbert Peter Stiles was born during a Luftwaffe air-raid over Collyhurst, Manchester, in May 1942.
At Manchester United, he won league titles at Old Trafford in 1965 and 1967, before winning the 1968 European Cup by helping United beat Benfica.
He played alongside Old Trafford icons George Best and Bobby Charlton.
He left United in 1971, going on to play for Middlesbrough and Preston. He returned to United as a youth team coach in 1989.
He later became a popular afterdinner speaker and was made an MBE in 2000.
But he shied away from the public gaze as his health deteriorated after a stroke in 2010, followed by battles with prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s.
In 2010 he sold his World Cup and European Cup medals to United for £200,000.
In 2016, a road was named after him in Collyhurst.
