Heading a football “likely” contributed to the brain injury which was a factor in the death of former Scotland defender Gordon McQueen, a coroner has found. McQueen, who played for Manchester United and Leeds during a 16-year career, died at his home in North Yorkshire in June 2023, aged 70.
The cause of death was pneumonia as he had become frail and bed-bound for months, the inquest in Northallerton was told. That frailty was due to a combination of vascular dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Coroner Jon Heath said: “It is likely that repetitive head impacts sustained by heading the ball while playing football contributed to the CTE.”
McQueen’s daughter, TV presenter Hayley McQueen, recalled her father saying: “Heading a football for all those years probably hasn’t helped.” She said he sustained concussions during his career but would “just head back out and play”. After his death, his brain was donated to Prof Willie Stewart, a consultant neuropathologist, who found evidence of CTE and vascular dementia.
Stewart agreed that the CTE “more than minimally, negligibly or trivially” contributed to the death and that “heading the ball” contributed to the CTE, noting McQueen’s “high exposure” to heading a football.
