Former England international Mike Tindall has announced the death of his father Phil following a 23-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
The 2003 Rugby World Cup winner confirmed the sad news on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, revealing his father had passed away last week.
“Unfortunately, my dad passed away last week,” said Tindall.
Phil, who was 79, had strong rugby connections of his own and was a former captain of Otley Rugby Club in West Yorkshire.
The club held a minute’s silence before their recent match against Chester, a gesture which clearly meant a lot to the former England centre.
“Big shout-out to Otley Rugby Club,” Tindall said.
“They played Chester on the weekend, and they did a minute’s silence to my dad, who was captain in ’72, ’73.
“That little moment, I got to watch it. Someone recorded it, sent it to me, and they wrote a little thing in the programme as well, which I read.
“But thank you very much to Otley Rugby Club for it.”
Tindall also recalled how his father's own playing career came to a premature end following a serious injury.
“He got married in ’69, broke his leg the week before, went down the aisle in a cast,” he said.
“I mean, it sort of all went wrong. He had to retire at 27.”
Phil was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2003 – the same year his son helped England lift the Rugby World Cup in Sydney.
Tindall has been open about his father's declining health and earlier this year revealed the devastating impact the disease had taken.
“My dad is not doing great at the moment,” he said in May.
“Parkinson’s is brutal and there is no let-up from how it attacks the body and changes people.
“After 23 plus years of the disease, it has quite honestly left him a shell of what he once was.”
Tindall added that he did not want “anyone else to see a parent or loved one suffer and have their quality of life decline so massively.”
The former Bath and Gloucester centre, who won 75 England caps, has turned his family's experience into fundraising and awareness work.
He has been a patron of Cure Parkinson’s since 2018, while previously describing Phil as “an absolutely unbelievable father”.
Tindall has also praised those working to support families affected by the disease, saying: “Thank you to everyone who is involved with any part of Parkinson’s. It means a lot to me.”
The death and Otley tribute are confirmed by reports published in the past 24 hours, while Parkinson’s UK confirms Phil was diagnosed in 2003 and Mike’s work supporting the Parkinson’s community.
