James Lawton: Artistry of Stiles worth more than any Lowry

World Cup winner's medal will sell for far less than the PFA paid for a painting. Is he emotional? Yes. But bitter? Not at all

When Nobby Stiles put his World Cup medal up for sale this week he provoked still another debate about the rewards of an extraordinary career like his and the wealth of today's footballers. The peak of the earning power of the Manchester United and England player, who with his old team-mate Bobby Charlton shared the unique distinction of winning both the World and European Cups, never rose above £150-a-week. Today, John Terry earns £170,000.

Yet some might say an even more telling account of different worlds and expectations came in Sotheby's auction room 11 years ago when Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, was the winning bidder for LS Lowry's "Going to the Match".

It is an extremely atmospheric work showing Lowry's famous stick figures streaming to Burnden Park, the home of Bolton Wanderers, but the pre-auction forecast was that it would go for no more than £500,000. Taylor was unblinking as he beat down the opposition, finally writing on behalf of his increasingly well-heeled members a cheque for £1.9million.

England's World Cup winners, of whom Stiles is now the eighth to decide to sell his medal, could only gasp, even when Taylor explained: "The picture represents the heart and soul of the game and the anticipation of the fans on their way to the match. We wanted it for football."

The veterans could be excused some bitter recall of the battle that had only just been won when they came into football – the struggle to break the £20-a-week wages ceiling. But then the "Boys of '66" have never been given to bitterness – nor to wishing that they had been born 40-odd years later because that would have meant missing the most uplifting days of their lives.

It is a point Stiles's son John was yesterday at pains to reinforce after reports that his father had sobbed with, well, bitterness, while announcing the forthcoming auction of the medal and other memorabilia, including the World Cup final shirt worn by the late Alan Ball, which he swapped for his own at the final whistle.

"What happened," explained John Stiles, a former player with Leeds United who now works as a stand-up comedian, "was that my dad got a little emotional when recalling the great days of his career. He doesn't do bitterness, he's probably the last man in the world to do that, and nor is he envious. He knows the world has changed and when he looks back on his life he is proud and grateful for what he was able to achieve and it's typical of him now that his first instinct is to help his family."

That was certainly his priority when the glory days ran out at Old Trafford and, with shattered knees, he faced an uncertain future.

Stiles may not have carried bitterness down the years but he was candid about the disillusionment he felt when, after 14 years, he was sent away from Old Trafford with so many gnawing doubts about what his future might hold.

He recalled: "Something went dead inside me when I was left out of the squad for a pre-season game with Shamrock Rovers in Dublin. I watched the bus going out to the airport, I was staying home with the kids and the reserves and I knew I had come full circle. I went home and told my wife Kay, 'It's really happened. I'm finished with United.' I told Kay I would have great difficulty in running out the string and waiting for the club to grant me a testimonial. That would have been great benefit to us at a time when we were struggling to look after young kids and pay the mortgage, and it would have made a lot of sense to push for it.

"I knew I was very popular with the United fans, who recognised my passion for the club and I reckoned a testimonial match would do well. It was also true that despite my reputation in the game I had no guarantee of making a sweet deal with a club who might want me for my experience. My struggles with injury were well known. I was damaged goods."

Stiles was offered a financial lifeline by Stan Anderson, the manager of Second Division Middlesbrough. If Stiles could persuade United to take less than the £25,000 Boro had budgeted for the signing, he could have the difference, maybe £5,000 – a decent amount of money in 1971.

The old player was excited by the possibility of a little financial security and he remembers the optimism he took to a meeting with the man who had shaped his football and his life, Sir Matt Busby.

"The more I thought about it the more reasonable Anderson's proposition seemed," said Stiles. "The club had got me for nothing as a 15-year-old when Bolton Wanderers were offering my parents a £3,000 signing fee. I had given 14 years' service. My knees were shot through."

If Busby had any sympathy for the plight of his servant, it didn't show. He said: "Norrie [his pet name for his most ferociously committed player] I'm sorry, I can't even put this proposal to the board. It would not be considered. You know, Middlesbrough are getting you for nothing and you have to remember you have always been paid well here."

Many years later Stiles reflected: "When Busby turned me down my mood was not improved when I heard that Dave Mackay was able to make a brilliant deal with Brian Clough at Derby County when he was released, with thanks, by Tottenham Hotspur. I also noted that Ryan Giggs, a great lad, a brilliant player and servant of the club, drew a benefit match pay-out of more than a million and David Beckham negotiated a deal of £100,000 a week. But by then of course everything had changed and though I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a little surge of resentment it was not against the new lads, only the way values had changed so much. I've always known that bitterness never did anyone any good, and maybe that knowledge helps me to say that I would never give back one day I spent at Old Trafford." Stiles suffered a minor stroke in the summer but he is recovering well, and with the same resilience he displayed after a heart-attack in 2002. Back then, he celebrated his release from hospital by visiting one of his boyhood haunts, an abandoned graveyard in his native Collyhurst, where he and his mates played on the upturned gravestones.

"It was a little difficult to find," he reported. "There were some barred gates and I had to find my way through some workshops that I didn't easily recall. Hedges and bushes were overgrown. But then suddenly it was there – the old place with the gravestones dating back to the 18th century and the ghosts of my past coming back to life. Even though I was only six or seven, I was never scared of the graveyard. My father was an undertaker and my mother once told me: 'Norbert it's not the dead ones you need to be scared of'."

Nor would he be concerned, we saw again this week, of letting his emotions show a little. He did that when he entranced the nation with his jig of victory at Wembley Stadium all those years ago. Maybe the image wasn't worth £1.9m but when the author's medal goes on sale who knows, at least one bidder may just decide he his investing in one of football's most unforgettable examples of living, passionate art.

New world order

Squad bonuses for winning the Cup

Then The England squad each collected a bonus of £1,000 for winning the 1966 World Cup. The bonus was reduced to £600 after tax.

Now If England had won the 2010 competition in South Africa in July it is estimated that the Football Association would have paid the players a bonus of at least £300,000 each.

Average weekly wage

Then £100 a week for a First Division footballer, and a £60 match fee for playing for England.

Now The average weekly wage for a Premier League player is £21,000.

Sponsorship deals

Then Adidas paid players, including Geoff Hurst, £1,000 a game to wear their boots during the tournament.

Now David Beckham receives an estimated £10m a year from adidas.