Nobby Stiles' son 'kicked out' of Doncaster Rovers training ground for handing out dementia leaflets

John Stiles, who played for Rovers between 1989 and 1992, has been a vocal campaigner for more to be done to tackle dementia in football following the death of his father last year.

According to the Daily Mail, he arrived at the club's Cantley Park training complex earlier this week to speak to players – however, because the club has strict Covid security protocols, he was asked to leave and Rovers have said they will welcome a formal approach to meet with the team.

The former Leeds United defender lost his father last October to dementia and has produced a leaflet about the dangers of heading the ball.

He says 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 told the newspaper.

‘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.’

He added: ‘Dad’s brain was riddled with CTE (a degenerative disease triggered by repeated head impacts) and I know heading the ball killed him’

‘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.’

He added: ‘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 spokesman 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.”