Mike Tindall’s father dies aged 80 after long battle with Parkinson’s

Mike Tindall has announced the death of his father, Phil Tindall, who has died aged 80 following more than two decades living with Parkinson’s disease.

The former England rugby international revealed the news during Wednesday’s episode of The Good, the Bad & the Rugby podcast, saying his father had died the previous week.

“Unfortunately, my dad passed away last week,” Tindall said.

Phil Tindall had strong connections to Otley Rugby Club in West Yorkshire, where he enjoyed a successful playing career. He made his first-team debut as a 17-year-old during the 1963-64 season, playing at fly-half and centre, and later captained the club during the 1972-73 season.

Mike paid tribute to the club after players held a minute’s silence in his father’s memory before a recent match against Chester.

“Big shout-out to Otley Rugby Club,” he said. “They played Chester on the weekend, and they did a minute’s silence to my dad, who was captain in ’72, ’73.”

The 47-year-old said he had been sent footage of the tribute and had also read a message about his father included in the match programme.

Phil was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2003, the same year that his son was part of the England team that won the Rugby World Cup in Australia. He subsequently lived with the condition for more than 20 years.

Mr Tindall has spoken openly over the years about the effect Parkinson’s had on his father and the wider family. He became a patron of Cure Parkinson’s in 2018 and has used his public profile to raise money and awareness for research into the condition.

In May, Mike spoke about his father’s deteriorating health, describing Parkinson’s as “brutal” and saying there was “no let-up” in the way it affected the body and changed people.

He said his father had been left “a shell of what he once was” after more than two decades with the disease, while his mother Linda had taken on much of his care as his condition progressed.

The impact of Parkinson’s was also apparent during Mike’s wedding to Zara Phillips, the daughter of the Princess Royal, in 2011. Tindall previously explained that his father required a wheelchair for parts of the day, with the condition having affected his spine and discs and making movement increasingly difficult.

Phil’s own rugby career was cut short at the age of 27 after he suffered a serious leg injury shortly before marrying Linda in 1969.

“He got married in ’69, broke his leg the week before, went down the aisle in a cast,” Mike recalled. “I mean, it sort of all went wrong. He had to retire at 27.”

Despite being forced to retire early, Phil remained closely connected with the sport and passed his knowledge of rugby on to his son.

Mike has previously credited his father’s understanding of the game with helping him during his own career, which culminated in England’s World Cup victory in 2003.

His father’s illness subsequently became a significant motivation for Tindall’s charitable work. He has supported Cure Parkinson’s through fundraising events including his annual Celebrity Golf Classic, as well as cycling and running challenges.