‘McQueen attributed dementia to heading ball’

Gordon McQueen, a former Scotland, Manchester United, and Leeds United player, claims his daughter attributed her dementia to playing a ball.

McQueen, 70, passed away in 2023 after being diagnosed with vascular dementia.

On Tuesday, the coroner’s court in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, held an inquest into his death.

Hayley McQueen, a Sky Sports presenter, was asked if she had spoken with her father about how his dementia might have affected her.

Dad would be in bed when I came home from school. or lying down.

Between 1970 and 1985, centre-back McQueen made almost 350 appearances for United, Leeds, and St Mirren.

Hayley testified to the inquest that she had not witnessed any head injuries during his career other than a few concussions.

She described how his health declined after his family noticed a personality change shortly after his 60th birthday.

He had a difficult time swallowing, Hayley said.

His personality started to change and his balance was very, very off.

“My dad was very outgoing, and dinners were a part of the after-dinner party. He slammed against my father, who was not really my father.

He simply wouldn’t know what year or what day, Hayley said.

He tried to do crossword puzzles and watch football, but he was very active. He lost writing ability.

He was unable to prepare a cup of tea. He was unsure of where exactly went. He kept saying, “There’s something wrong with my head.”

He once had a perplexity. Never again, because he had a wonderful history.

It was more my dad’s withdrawn personality. He would be in the center of attention, but (with dementia) he would need to be questioned before speaking.

Hayley responded, “Mostly with his head, from a set-piece,” when Michael Rawlinson KC, a representative of the McQueen family, inquired about her father’s goal.

After McQueen passed away, a consultant at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, Professor Willie Stewart, who had examined his brain after his death, described how a membrane in the brain appeared torn and how chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was present in various locations.

Gordon, according to him, “took the lower stage of the disease, but was approaching the higher stage.”

Cognitive decline and neuro-behaviour change, as explained by Prof. Stewart, “can’t be explained by another condition; it must be progressive.”

He claimed that symptoms were “typical for long-term professionals in the fields of rugby and football.”

When questioned whether there was a connection between repetitive head injuries and CTE, he responded, “Yes.

McQueen’s right lung, mixed vascular dementia, and CTE were discovered following a post-mortem, according to senior coroner John Heath.

In a study conducted in 2021 to determine whether certain positions on the pitch were more risky than others, Prof. Stewart said: “The players, the goalkeepers, who don’t head the ball had an equivalent risk to the general population, while the risk was higher in outfield positions, especially defenders.