'My dad football... ultimately it took him'

HEADING a football “likely” contributed to the brain injury which was a factor in the death of former Scotland star Gordon McQueen, a coroner has found.

- BY TOM WILKINSON

McQueen, who was capped for his country 30 times between 1974 and 1981 and played for Manchester United and Leeds United, died in June 2023, aged 70.

The cause of death was pneumonia after he became frail and bedbound for months, an inquest in Northallerton, North Yorks, heard.

That frailty was due to a combination of vascular dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, coroner Jon Heath said. And in his narrative conclusion yesterday he found that McQueen died from pneumonia as a consequence of mixed vascular dementia and CTE.

The coroner added: “It is likely repetitive head impacts sustained by heading the ball while playing football contributed to the CTE.”

McQueen’s daughter Hayley paid tribute to her father after the hearing, saying: “He absolutely loved everything about football. But, ultimately, it took him in the end.