World Cup memories for Hayley McQueen begin on her 10th birthday with her father engrossed in the draw for Italia 90 as it slowly unfolded on the Teletext news service in the days before Sky Sports News. Others include a holiday in Florida six months later, with the tournament in full swing and Gordon, a legend of Leeds, Manchester United and Scotland cheering for England to lose.
The next day, the McQueen family were at Disney World when they bumped into United's Steve Bruce, who was dismayed by England's performance and complaining about a noisy hotel neighbour whooping and hollering in support of the other team. 'We didn't think too much of it at the time,' says Hayley. 'My Dad said, "Aye we were cheering for them too," but we got back that night and found Steve was in the same hotel and staying only two doors away. Both of them suddenly realised it was Dad making all the noise, cheering for England to lose in the World Cup.'
The memories are flooding back because for Sky Sports presenter Hayley this year's World Cup will be her first without her father, who died in June 2023 at the age of 70, two and a half years after being diagnosed with vascular dementia. 'It will be bittersweet,' she says. 'But we want to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays now, rather than remembering what it was like when he first passed away. We had the inquest hanging over us and it took us a while for everything to sink in. We had his birthday, the anniversary of his death and Father's Day all within a 10-day period in June. It was horrible, but I'm looking forward to this summer.'
Hayley will present Sky's World Cup Breakfast Show and plan celebrations with family and friends around the fixtures. Scotland clinched qualification for the first time since 1998, beating Denmark 4-2 in November with brilliant goals including Scott McTominay's overhead kick and Kenny McLean's strike from the halfway line. 'I thought if only Dad was alive to see this,' says Hayley, recalling his exuberant reaction to James McFadden's screamer in a Euro 2008 qualifier against France when live on Sky. 'That's how enthusiastic and animated he was when he watched Scotland. He would have loved to see them at another World Cup. He would have planned his whole summer around it.'
Growing up, the McQueen household was always sociable with many visitors. Gordon went to the World Cup with Scotland in 1974 without playing. Four years later, his dreams were ruined by an injury, and he flew back from Argentina before the tournament began. 'He had a broken foot, so I don't know how he ever thought he was going to play,' says Hayley. 'He took Mum on holiday and didn't watch a single minute of the World Cup which is probably a good thing from Scotland's point of view. He was so heartbroken. He loved the World Cup. And he was a proud Scot. He would have given up so much to have played for Scotland in a World Cup.'
If Scotland weren't playing, Gordon would support anybody but England, typically the Republic of Ireland or Portugal. Hayley recalls: 'I remember Mum coming down to the swimming pool one day in an England bikini. Dad nearly had a heart attack. I don't know if it was because of Mum in a bikini or because it was an England one.'
Hayley's mother Yvonne was born in Leeds, and her family are big supporters of Leeds and England, but things can get confused in the McQueen family. 'Last year Mum had Scotland bunting up around the garden for the Euros,' says Hayley, whose partner Kirk was born and raised in Germany with Turkish parents.
McQueen's most famous goal was his majestic header scored against England at Wembley in 1977, when Scotland's victory sparked a pitch invasion and the Tartan Army demolished the Wembley pitch and the goalposts. It is impossible, nearly 50 years on, to admire the goal without thinking of the inquest in January, which ruled heading the ball had contributed to the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which led to McQueen's early onset of dementia.
'A lot of people are looking back and angry and worried about what the future holds for lots of footballers who may be sitting with dementia and don't know it,' says Hayley. 'Football and the governing bodies need to really wake up. I'm desperate to campaign for the future generations, it's more about education than litigation. There's overwhelming research pointing towards why we should limit heading in training.'
Hayley has also been keen for authorities such as the FA and the players' union, the PFA, to contribute towards care. 'We can't just keep looking back and blaming,' she adds. 'I'd like to see the PFA help those in trouble now. Care costs are mounting. I know people who have sold their homes to pay for care costs. If we'd known more, could we have changed things? You can't look at that in hindsight but now we do know more and we can change things, but are people listening to make that change?'
Hayley also shared her all-time World Cup XI, which includes Iker Casillas, Franz Beckenbauer, Fabio Cannavaro, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane, Johan Cruyff, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo, and Harry Kane. She explained: 'Dad always said Beckenbauer was the greatest he played against and the German influence extends to Vogts because my partner Kirk's step-dad was a big German football fan. I've always been on the Cristiano Ronaldo side of the Ronaldo-Messi debate. Maybe it's the Manchester United factor but who wasn't pleased when Messi won the World Cup. Ronaldinho is my absolute favourite footballer. Scotland always seems to be drawn against Brazil and I've happy memories of Juninho and the Brazilians who signed for Middlesbrough in the 90s when my Dad was working there. There's even an English player in because Kane is such a perfect role model.'
