Hayley McQueen's turmoil over 18-month wait for dad Gordon's death certificate

Daily Mirror

3 days ago

Hayley McQueen's father Gordon passed away in June 2023 at the age of 70, two years after being diagnosed with vascular dementia, with an inquest into his death yet to take place
Sky Sports presenter Hayley McQueen's wait for her father Gordon's death certificate has now incredibly passed 18 months. He was best known for his successful career as a football player, which saw him represent Manchester United, Leeds United and Scotland.
In June 2023, Sky Sports presenter Hayley revealed her father had passed away, two years after being diagnosed with vascular dementia. At the start of 2025, Northallerton Coroners Court announced there would be an inquest into McQueen's passing, which will examine the effect of heading the ball throughout his career, while also scrutinising the nature of the goals he scored.
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The McQueen family has openly voiced their concerns about the potential link between heading footballs and his dementia. Nearly half a year since the inquest began, Hayley has spoken up about the upsetting delay her family is facing in getting the death certificate, as a result of the inquest.
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Speaking on the Ainslie + Ainslie Performance People podcast, when asked to confirm that her family have still not been given a death certificate, she said: "Yes. We are still waiting for the cause of death and whether it's ruled as industrial disease."
Hayley offered up McQueen's brain for scientific research to Professor William Stewart, who had significant involvement in the 2021 government investigation into sports-related brain injuries. She added: "I was in contact with him before and we discussed a few things. I'd had to get quite a matter of fact about things, but I was like 'Oh, my dad does want to donate his brain to medical science.'
"We did that privately, but our local coroner determined that he wanted to open an inquest because on my Dad's death certificate - well he doesn't have a death certificate – the interim cause of death, when you're issued a certificate to be able to deal with banking issues and things like that, was down as pneumonia.
"My dad did not die from pneumonia. He was bed bound and because of the liquid intake, it was a complication. Eventually, that took him."
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While explaining what Professor Stewart discovered while looking at her father's brain, she added: "Everything points towards the heading of the football.
"There is CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) that Professor Stewart found. He's just the most wonderful and incredible man, and he sat with us and broke down everything in the post-mortem."
In 2019, research from the Football Association and the Professional Footballers' Association highlighted that football players are 3.5 times more susceptible to degenerative brain diseases. The inquiry into McQueen's death is yet to receive a starting date, as the coroner Jon Heath said they must locate the ex-defender's medical records from 1972 to 1995 before moving forward with the inquiry.
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There's still no word on when the inquest will happen. But after Hayley's discussion with Professor Stewart, the family's resolve to uncover more details about the death has only intensified.
She added: "It spurred us on. We were like 'Okay, we're going to fight this fight.' We haven't done it for any kind of litigation, we just want information.
"I would love to know that, if they think it was from the heading of the football, that the information was really powerful, to make the authorities and people in football really start to pay attention to the fact that you can get brain damage from heading a football."
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