Inquest into Gordon McQueen's Dementia Highlights Risks of Heading Footballs
Former Scotland, Manchester United, and Leeds United defender Gordon McQueen's dementia has been attributed to heading a football, according to his daughter.
McQueen, who was diagnosed with vascular dementia, passed away in 2023 at the age of 70. An inquest into his death commenced this week at the coroner's court in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.
During the inquest, Hayley McQueen, a Sky Sports presenter and McQueen's daughter, shared that her father acknowledged the potential impact of his football career on his health. "He would say, 'yes, heading a football all those years probably hasn't helped,'" she recalled.
Hayley described her father's struggles, noting, "I remember coming home from school and Dad would be in bed or having a lie down. He would say he was having headaches. I remember thinking, 'why are you having headaches?'"
McQueen, a centre-back, made nearly 350 appearances for St Mirren, Leeds, and Manchester United between 1970 and 1985. Hayley mentioned that she did not recall her father suffering significant head injuries during his career, aside from a few concussions.
She recounted how his health began to decline after the family noticed changes in his personality shortly after his 60th birthday. "He struggled with swallowing, and that continued for many years," Hayley explained. "His balance was very, very off, and his personality started to change. My dad was very outgoing—he was part of the after-dinner circuit. He became withdrawn, which wasn’t really my dad."
Hayley identified the swallowing issue as dysphagia and noted that although McQueen also battled throat cancer, they gained further insights after a discussion between her mother Yvonne and Dawn Astle, the daughter of former England and West Brom striker Jeff Astle, who passed away in 2002.
"He just wouldn’t really know what year it was or what day it was," Hayley stated. "He was very active, trying to do crosswords and watch football, but he lost the ability to write. He couldn’t even make a cup of tea; he got confused about where things went. He kept saying, 'there's something not right in my head.'"
She added, "He used to get confused about things but never about people; he had an incredible memory for the past. It was more about his withdrawn nature. He used to be the center of attention, but with dementia, he needed to be asked a question to engage in conversation."
When asked by Michael Rawlinson KC, representing the McQueen family, about how her father scored his goals, Hayley responded, "Mainly with his head, from a set-piece."
Professor Willie Stewart, a consultant at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, examined McQueen’s brain after his death. He noted that a membrane in the brain appeared torn, and that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was present in various areas. "Gordon technically fell into the lower stage of the disease, although he was on the threshold of the higher stage," he explained.
Prof. Stewart described CTE symptoms as cognitive decline and neuro-behavioral changes, stating that these cannot be attributed to another condition and must be progressive. He added that these symptoms are typical among individuals with long careers, particularly professional footballers and rugby players.
When asked about the causal link between CTE and repetitive head injuries, he affirmed, "The answer to that is yes." Senior coroner John Heath indicated that the post-mortem examination revealed pneumonia in McQueen's right lung, along with mixed vascular dementia and CTE.
Prof. Stewart, who conducted a 2021 study examining whether certain positions on the pitch were more associated with neurodegenerative diseases, noted, "Players in outfield positions, particularly defenders, have a higher risk. Goalkeepers, who do not head the ball, have a risk equivalent to that of the general population." The inquest is ongoing.