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By IAN HERBERT, DEPUTY CHIEF SPORTS WRITER Published: 01: 51 AEDT, 27 January 2026 | Updated: 01: 52 AEDT, 27 January 2026 1 View comments The family of Gordon Mc Queen on Monday questioned why the Football Association ‘fought’ them during an inquest into the former Scotland international’s death which has found that repeated heading of the ball was a contributory factor. Mc Queen’s daughter Hayley, the Sky Sports broadcaster, and her legal team were cross-examined by the FA’s barrister at the inquest, as the governing body attempted to demonstrate that an aggressive form of brain disease linked to repeated head impacts was not the cause of the 70-year-old’s death, in 2023. But North Yorkshire coroner Jon Heath ruled on Monday that the disease - severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – ‘likely’ contributed to the death of the former Leeds United and Manchester United, whose decline started soon after he turned 60. After the coroner gave his verdict, Ms Mc Queen’s sister Emma said: ‘The fact that the FA tried to fight this is quite surprising. I think they are scared and not sure what the best approach is. Now that there is more evidence [of a link between heading and brain injury] they have to do more. ’ She added that the Professional Footballers’ Association had provided her family with no help after they pleaded with the union for support when Mc Queen was struggling with the aggressive effects of CTE. She said: ‘I emailed the PFA begging for help but that email wasn’t answered. They sent me on a wild goose chase. The PFA gave us no support – nothing whatsoever. ’ Gordon Mc Queen's daughters Anna Forbes and Hayley Mc Queen hit out at the 'scared FA' Their former footballer father's death in 2023 has seen his family fight to understand more about the role that CTE had via a coroner's inquest Her sister Hayley said that while there had been changes at the PFA, they had to up their game in helping families of the many players who have struggled desperately with symptoms like her father’s. ‘The Premier League are giving them money and they have got a fund in place, but from my understanding from personal contacts, they are definitely not doing enough. ’ The FA have been intent on challenging the wish of families to pursue verdicts like Monday’s through coroners’ courts. They claimed that it was not in the public interest for the Durham coroner to investigate whether heading killed former Middlesbrough player Bill Gates, whose wife Judith is at the forefront of a campaign to educate players about the dangers. The coroner rejected the FA’s legal argument at a pre-trial hearing at which the Gates family felt the governing body’s approach to be ‘adversarial. ’ A date for Gates’ inquest is yet to be set. Verdicts like Mc Queen’s, which explicitly linking deaths to heading, could strengthen legal claims by ex-players and families for compensation. This provides one possible incentive for some authorities to fight them. Manchester United also had legal representation at the Mc Queen inquest. Mc Queen is the first high profile ex-player in the modern era to have his death linked to repeatedly heading a football and the finding could pave the way to financial support for families, through designation of CTE as an industrial disease. The Mc Queen family simply want the FA to address the problem of heading and brain injury in the interests of current players, who they say risk dementia later in life, rather than fork out for KCs to challenge families in cases like this. The Head Safe organisation, which Mrs Gates founded, has worked with 43 EFL clubs in an attempt to communicate the need for less heading during training. It found that just one per cent of coaches were aware of FA guidelines. Hayley Mc Queen said: ‘Our dad loved everything about football but it took his life in the end. He went through a terrible time towards the end of his life. If he were here today, his message would have been to teach future generations. ’ Mc Queen – who was capped for Scotland 30 times between 1974 and 1981 and played for both Manchester United and Leeds United during a 16-year career – died at his home in North Yorkshire in June 2023, aged 70. The coroner ruled that repetitive head impacts sustained by headers during Mc Queen's playing career 'likely' contributed to his CTE The coroner told the inquest in Northallerton, North Yorkshire that the cause of death was pneumonia, as he had become frail and bed-bound for months. That frailty was due to a combination of vascular dementia CTE. The coroner gave a narrative conclusion, finding that Mc Queen had died from pneumonia as a consequence of mixed vascular dementia and CTE. He said: ‘It is likely that repetitive head impacts sustained by heading the ball while playing football contributed to the CTE. ’ The FA and PFA have been approached for comment.

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