Hayley McQueen talks about ex-Man United father Gordon’s dementia
Hayley McQueen has been candid about her father Gordon’s heartbreaking battle with dementia, saying the former Scotland, Manchester United and Leeds United defender is ‘locked in on himself’ and ‘completely bedridden’.
The 70-year-old became the latest ex-footballer to be diagnosed with dementia two years ago after repeatedly heading heavy balls during his playing days.
Daughter Hayley, a broadcaster for Sky Sports News, has joined calls to ban headlines during training sessions to prevent young players from suffering the same fate.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she said: ‘He’s completely bedridden which is awful. A big, sturdy man, just in bed.
“He watches a lot of football, not current football, he has many football friends who come over. We have had. Many of his ex-teammates come along.
Broadcaster Hayley McQueen has opened up about her father Gordon’s heartbreaking battle with dementia on ITV’s Good Morning Britain
Gordon McQueen played for Scotland, Manchester United and Leeds United and is pictured with daughter Hayley after the Old Trafford club won the 1983 FA Cup Final
“He knows who we all are, which is really weird because I associate dementia with not having a clue what the hell is going on or who someone is, and I kind of like that, from a selfish point of view.
“Part of me is like ‘if he didn’t know who we were, where we were, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to think about the day when he has to go to a house. Would he know where he is or what’s going on? the hands”.
“He’s very conscious, it’s like he’s locked inside himself.”
McQueen admitted that her family considered not breaking the news of the dementia diagnosis to Gordon, only to have the hospital reveal it.
She added: “When we found out he had dementia, we were diagnosed, we debated whether to tell him or not.
“We were like ‘if we don’t tell him, he’ll never know’ and if we tell him, do we have to remind him every day that he has dementia?
“We weren’t going to tell him and then we were in the hospital and they said ‘ok, Gordon, this is how we deal with dementia’ and that was that.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to get worse, I want to get better.’
Hayley (L) has spoken out about the pain of watching her father (R) deteriorate rapidly – claiming he is ‘completely bedridden’ and ‘locked in on himself’
McQueen was known for his remarkable airborne presence – with a recent brain scan showing the damage done by heading
“We had to sit there and say, ‘well, we don’t think you’re going to get better, but we’re going to try and make everything the best we can.’ We’ll be there for you, we’ll be there for you.”
“I had just had a baby so I was dealing with the emotions of all that, it was a 4.5 hour drive from the parents in the Northeast because of course I work in the Southwest so obviously that was hard knowing that I was so far away and a little helpless.
“Covid happened then, which meant you couldn’t see your family. All these people my father loved to be with couldn’t be near him.”
In an exclusive interview with Sportsmail recently, Hayley spoke of her anger at a lack of support for her father from the Professional Footballers’ Association. [PFA].
She then said, “My sister has been in contact with someone we at the PFA are not naming.
Hayley – pictured being cradled and fed by her father in 1980 – has wondered why no one from the PFA has reached out to offer support
Hayley said her father can still recognize members of his family despite the dementia
She called for stricter restrictions on young people playing football to protect their brains
“She got an email back saying it can’t be proven copper caused this until you have a post-mortem. It also said that we should be mindful of Dad’s “lifestyle choices.” At that point we cut off contact. We saw them in a different light.
“I know there have been changes and I know Dawn Astle and Penny Watson work so hard there and they’ve given Mum a lot of emotional support – this isn’t a criticism of them – but to me it seems like things were better running under Gordon Taylor than they are now.”
On GMB, Hayley called for tighter restrictions on football headings during training sessions, especially on children’s teams.
She said, ‘They shouldn’t [allow unlimited heading]particularly children and young people whose brains are just developing and are more at risk.
“They can’t make their own decisions, so there should be laws to ban heading the ball under certain ages. There are laws for that now.’