Life-Stiles of Nobby

NOBBY Stiles is demonstrating his ball skills for the photographer in front of York Minster, juggling the ball on his knee. It flies out of control and almost hits the snapper in the face.

"Are you all right?" Nobby says, leaning forward and grinning. "I told you I've not played for a long time."

For a moment, you could see the years roll back - back to the glory days of 1966, when he and his England colleagues lifted the Jules Rimet World Cup and Nobby was, in his own words, a 'bit of a narky bugger'.

In the changing room he was known by his team-mates as 'Happy', he grins - and it wasn't meant literally. It was a bit like the nickname they gave his Manchester United colleague, the Irish international and full back Shay Brennan.

"We called him 'bomber'," he says. "It came from when we were playing against Derby. We were getting behind about 3-0, and we said 'Shay, get up here and bomb it in!' He was a useless header!"

That was a long time ago. Today, the humour is still there: but it's gentler and less abrasive.

There's a reason for that, and it's not just to do with Nobby's age - he's 60. A few months ago, the World Cup hero - famous for his gap-toothed grin and jig of delight after that England victory in 1966 - suffered a heart attack. It was, he says, like being "stabbed through the chest with a red hot poker".

It came as he was settling down at home in Manchester with his wife Kay to watch one of the opening matches at this year's World Cup. "I remember feeling a bit dizzy, but nothing too out of the ordinary," he says, over breakfast at the Dean Court Hotel. Then he began to get an aching pain in his back. "It was really sore, I couldn't get easy," he says. "Then it started coming down my arm."

Even so - and even though his father suffered a heart attack when relatively young - it never occurred to Nobby what it was. "My wife said 'do you think you're having a heart attack?' And I said 'don't be stupid, no way, I'm as fit as anything'," he says cheerily.

But the pain got worse. "After about an hour, the pain started to come through to here," he says, pressing his chest. "It was ripping me apart, it was as if I was bursting."

He was rushed to hospital, where within a few minutes, staff were able to confirm he had had a heart attack. Still, it took a while to sink in.

"I said I'm sorry, I can't stay, I've got to be in Leeds tomorrow," he recalls. "It's the Argentina/England match and I'm supposed to be at a brunch at Elland Road. And the doctor says 'sorry, you're in and you're staying.'"

That week in hospital made him think. He remembers once seeing his grandchildren come to visit. They were in the car park. He could see them through the window but they couldn't see him because it was one way glass. "I could see the hurt in their eyes," he says. "They were worried about their grandad. It really shook me."

Which is why, nearly six months on, he's touring the country on behalf of the World Heart Federation to promote World Heart Day on Sunday. His message: prevention - and a sensible lifestyle - is better than cure.

He had always thought he was fit. "I always did 250 sit-ups, every day, and my weight was ten stone four pounds, the same as the day after the world cup final," he says. He's no doubt his lifestyle contributed to the attack. Before, he was a 40-a-day smoker. Sometimes, back in his days as manager of Preston North End, he could even get through 40 cigarettes during one match.

On one occasion - it was a freezing day and he and his assistant in the dugout had covered themselves with a quilt to get warm - they had to rush out on to the pitch in the middle of a game because they had set the quilt on fire.

Now, he has quit smoking - he hopes for good. He's also trying to improve his diet, judging by his frugal breakfast of fruit and a single slice of thin toast at the Dean Court. And, despite his recent heart attack, he's looking well.

He is full of stories about his playing days - the dressing room humour and team spirit - and it's obvious he misses them. It was never the same after he went into managing, he says regretfully. "As a coach, you're out of it." It makes him think of Roy Keane. His advice to the Irishman is blunt. "Put all that crap behind you," he says. "Whatever it is, whatever you're thinking, forget it. All you're doing is losing something you will never get back - the playing.

"You can coach, you can manage, but you can't beat the fun of the dressing room. It's the greatest thing you will ever have, and you can never get it back.

"You think you can live for ever, but it's only a short span of your life. I finished when I was 33, and I'm 60 now, and I still remember that and recall what fun I had."

Best of all was that magic moment back in 1966, hoisting the Jules Rimet trophy aloft. It was a team performance that day, he says - but Bobby Moore was head and shoulders above the rest.

He remembers Moore getting the ball when England were 3-2 ahead in extra time and the match was drawing to a close. Nobby and the others were screaming for Moore to kick the ball into the stands.

Instead, he calmly chested it down and set up the movement that led to Hurst's third goal. "And as Geoff stuck the ball in the net, Bobby started wiping his hands," says Nobby, with awe. "Because he was going to meet the Queen."

To this day, he can't remember what was going through his head as he flashed that gap-toothed grin and skipped around the ground holding up the trophy. "I never had a clue what was going on," he says. "I was just overjoyed. But my wife has never forgiven me for showing my teeth!"

That 1966 England team, he says, would have gone through a brick wall for their manager, Sir Alf Ramsey. What was so special about him?

He launches into one of his stories. There had been a home international, and afterwards Sir Alf came into the England dressing room.

"Alf would come around, and he would say, Nobby, thank you for coming," he recalls. "You're playing for England, and he goes 'thank you for coming'. He came to Gordon Banks, and says 'Gordon, thank you for coming', and Gordon says 'yeah, see you at the next match, Alf.'"

Nobby pauses. "And Alf went 'Will you?'" Nobby gives a theatrical shudder. "It was the way he said it. 'Will you?' As though he was saying 'picked yourself, have you, lad?'"

And Nobby shudders again.

Updated: 10:39 Friday, September 27, 2002