Norbert "Nobby" Peter Stiles MBE, (born Collyhurst , Manchester, 18th May 1942), was the toothless midfield ballwinner of England's 1966 World Cup winning side.

Stiles grew up supporting Manchester United and his talent was swiftly recognised when he played for England Schoolboys at the age of 15. He achieved a childhood ambition when, in the same year, the club he supported gave him an apprenticeship.

He was an unlikely footballer in many ways - he was very small, at a time when teenagers were being rejected by clubs purely because of their lack of height; he was also a wearer of dentures (the removal of which prior to matches gave him a gap-toothed expression which had the potential to scare) after having his real teeth forcibly ripped out during a match; and he suffered from severe shortsightedness, meaning he 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, and Stiles was given his debut as a full back in October 1960 against Bolton Wanderers.

Stiles 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. Stiles was deployed in the middle of the park to snuff out the flair and peril of creative opponents, and this he did with much success. His ability to gain and retain possession also allowed his more skilled team-mates like Bobby Charlton and, later, George Best more space on the park to utilise.

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 wasn't picked for the game. He began to make more frequent appearance in the seasons ahead, however, and won the First Division title in 1965. The same year, his country came calling.

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 International 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". Stiles was tested out for this role in a 2-2 draw against Scotland at Wembley on April 10 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 his place in the starting XI for the tournament seemed set in stone by the time Ramsey confirmed his 22.

Stiles won his 15th cap as England kicked off the competition with a dour 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 semi final, Stiles did a decidedly effective man-marking job on the Portugal playmaker and prolific goalscorer Eusebio to the extent that the enigmatic and immensely skilled player was essentially nullified for the whole match, which England won 2-1. Purists bemoaned the lack of prettiness but realists congratulated Stiles on his desire to win the battle without resorting to dirtier tricks. Ramsey, on being asked by a journalist about the way he'd instructed Stiles to "deal with" Eusebio, questioned and objected to the terminology used, though he knew exactly why the reporter had referred to Stiles' display in such a manner. When all was said and done, their best opponent barely got a kick (except to score Portugal's late penalty) and England were in the final.

Stiles, winning his 20th cap, had no man-marking brief against West Germany but played a strong, tough match as England saw a 2-1 lead levelled with the last kick of the game before Geoff Hurst completed football's most famous hat-trick to win the competition in extra time. Though no abiding memory of Stiles' on-pitch display lingers in the memory (which, in his position, was a sign that he'd played superbly), there was a post-match image which lived on for decades - the sight of him doing an involuntary, spontaneous jig with the Jules Rimet Trophy in his hand while holding his false teeth in the other. Thirty years later this moment would be referred to by Frank Skinner and David Baddiel in the lyrics to Three Lions, the England theme song written with the Lightning Seeds for Euro 96.

Stiles played in the next four internationals but was deemed to have performed poorly as England lost infamously to Scotland at Wembley in 1967 and was dropped by Ramsey. He won his second League championship medal with Manchester United in the same year, but greater club honours were to come.

United reached the European Cup final in 1968, which was to be staged at Wembley, and Stiles' old nemesis Eusebio was again someone he had to deal with as part of a fearsome attacking potential posed by opponents Benfica. Stiles' played well without keeping Eusebio 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.

Stiles was selected for the England squad which contested the 1968 European Championships but the holding role in midfield had been taken by Tottenham Hotspur's Alan Mullery . England went out to Yugoslavia in the semi finals, during which Mullery became the first ever England player to receive a red card. Stiles was recalled for the otherwise meaningless third place play-off game against the USSR, but it was clear that despite his misdemeanour, Mullery was now Ramsey's first choice.

Stiles played just once for England in 1969 and twice in 1970. He was selected by Ramsey for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico but only as Mullery's understudy, and not only did he not get a kick during the competition as England surrendered the title in the quarter final, he never played for his country again. He ended with 28 caps - ultimately the least capped member of the 1966 XI - and one goal.

After 392 matches and 19 goals, Manchester United sold Stiles in 1971 to Middlesbrough for 20,000 pounds. Two years later, he became a player-coach at Preston North End when Bobby Charlton was manager, though this did not work out for Charlton, and Stiles ended up as manager from 1977 to 1981.

Stiles joined the exodus of ageing and semi-retired European players to the NASL in 1981, playing for Vancouver Whitecaps. Three years on and he finally gave up playing.

On September 29, 1985 Stiles took over as manager of West Bromwich Albion; however, he was sacked the following February after the sides managed only three wins under his leadership, and this would prove to be his final stab at management. He later revealed his struggle with depression while in the job, finding it tough to cope with working in the Midlands and the daily commute from Manchester, where his family lived.

Between 1989 and 1993 he worked for Manchester United as their youth team coach, developing the considerable skills of teenage prodigies such as David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers.

In 2000, Stiles was awarded his MBE after a campaign by sections of the media who were surprised that five of the 1966 team had never been officially decorated for their achievements. Stiles duly joined Alan Ball, Roger Hunt, Ray Wilson and George Cohen in collecting his gong.

Stiles released his autobiography, After The Ball, in 2003.