Gordon McQueen (26 June 1952 – 15 June 2023) was a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for St Mirren,

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, in addition to the Scotland national team. McQueen started his footballing career at St Mirren in 1970, but in 1972 was bought by Leeds for £30,000 to replace Jack Charlton. He was a central figure during the 1973–74 campaign, during which the Leeds team were undefeated for the first 29 matches and won the title. McQueen scored three times during the club's

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

campaign the following season, but was suspended for the final, which Leeds lost. After a controversial move to Leeds' arch-rivals Manchester United, he won the 1983 FA Cup Final. McQueen joined

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, and semiconductors. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969. Seiko is ...

in Hong Kong for one season in 1985, before retiring and moving into coaching; in that capacity, he managed Airdrieonians and St Mirren for periods in the 1980s. McQueen played thirty times for Scotland, scoring five goals and winning the 1976–77 British Home Championship.

Club career

McQueen was a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

(the position in which his father Tom had played professionally) as a schoolboy but later switched to centre-back. He was signed at the age of 18 by St Mirren from Ayrshire Junior team Largs Thistle. He soon had scouts from other clubs monitoring his progress and it was

who finally offered £30,000 (£ today) in the 1972 close season, seeing him as a long-term replacement for the ageing Jack Charlton. Charlton played for some of the 1972–73 season but had decided to retire as the season was drawing to a close. McQueen played on six occasions in his first season at Leeds, including a substitute appearance in the 1973 European Cup Winners' Cup final, which Leeds lost to A.C. Milan. With Charlton retired and Madeley playing in many positions, McQueen was in the team for most of the 1973–74 season. Leeds won the League Championship, with a run of 29 matches without a defeat from the start of the season with McQueen playing alongside Norman Hunter as Leeds' first-choice centre back pairing. Known for his heading, his stature and his stubborn attitude, McQueen played a significant role in the team's success. McQueen and Hunter excelled at the back the following season, notably in Leeds' campaign in the

, during which McQueen scored three goals. He was suspended for the 1975 European Cup Final after being sent off in the semi-final versus

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Leeds went on to lose 2–0 in the final versus Bayern Munich. In February 1978, McQueen moved from Leeds to their arch-rivals

for £500,000 (£ today). On signing, he said that "99% of players want to play for Manchester United and the rest are liars." He had declared only weeks earlier in '' Shoot'' magazine that he wanted to stay at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

for his entire career. He played in the 1979 FA Cup Final against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, scoring United's first of two goals in the 86th minute, but again finished on the losing side. McQueen finally gained an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

winner's medal in the 1983 FA Cup final, which United won after a replay versus Brighton & Hove Albion. Earlier that season he was also in the team defeated by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the League Cup final, in which he was used as a centre-forward because he was injured and United had already made their only permitted substitution. He left

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in the 1985 close season, having suffered from persistent knee injuries. After one season with

in the Hong Kong First Division, he retired from playing.

International career

At the end of the 1973–74 season McQueen was called up to the

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

squad and made his international debut versus

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. He was selected for the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

squad, but did not play. He soon became a regular for Scotland, and he captained the team and also scored his first international goal in a 1–1 draw against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

on 1 June 1975. He achieved great success with Scotland in 1977, as he scored goals against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

at Hampden then

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at Wembley as the Scots won the British Home Championship and later that year he helped the team qualify for the 1978 World Cup by beating

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. Although he was selected for the 1978 World Cup squad, he could not play due to injury. McQueen played his last match for Scotland in 1981, having gained thirty caps and scored five goals.

Post-playing career

McQueen coached abroad before managing Airdrieonians from 1987 to 1989, before coaching at his first club St Mirren. When McQueen's friend and former team-mate

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

was appointed the manager of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, McQueen joined him as reserve-team coach. He held this position for five years, and was then a first-team coach for two years. McQueen left the

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

club in June 2001, following the departure of Robson and the appointment of Steve McClaren. McQueen then joined

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

as a pundit, working on their '' Soccer Saturday'' results show. On 29 April 2008, McQueen returned to Middlesbrough as assistant scout, alongside David Mills.

Personal life

After coaching Middlesbrough, McQueen and his wife lived in the village of Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire. The couple had a son and two daughters, including Hayley, who is a sports journalist. Politically, McQueen was a Labour supporter. In October 2011, McQueen was diagnosed with

laryngeal cancer Laryngeal cancer is a kind of cancer that can develop in any part of the larynx (voice box). It is typically a squamous-cell carcinoma, reflecting its origin from the epithelium of the larynx. The prognosis is affected by the location of the tumo ...

and started treatment at the

James Cook University Hospital The James Cook University Hospital, formerly known as the South Cleveland Hospital, is a public tertiary referral hospital and regional major trauma centre in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England with 1,046 beds. It forms part of the South ...

, Middlesbrough. In January 2021, he was diagnosed with

vascular dementia Vascular dementia is dementia caused by a series of strokes. Restricted blood flow due to strokes reduces oxygen and glucose delivery to the brain, causing cell injury and neurological deficits in the affected region. Subtypes of vascular dement ...

. This highlighted the issue of injuries caused to footballers by persistent heading of a ball. He died from complications of dementia at home on 15 June 2023, at the age of 70.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each goal.''

Honours

Leeds United * First Division: 1973–74 *

runner-up: 1974–75 * European Cup Winner's Cup runner-up: 1972–73 Manchester United *

: 1982–83; runner-up: 1978–79 * League Cup runner-up: 1982–83 * FA Charity Shield:

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1974–75 First Division, 1977–78 First Division * Leeds United Player of the Year: 1974–75, 1976–77 * Scottish Football Hall of Fame: 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McQueen, Gordon 1952 births 2023 deaths 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) managers Deaths from dementia in England Deaths from vascular dementia English Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Footballers from North Ayrshire Hong Kong First Division League players Leeds United F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Men's association football central defenders Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff People from Hambleton District People from Kilbirnie Scotland men's international footballers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League managers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish football managers Scottish men's footballers Seiko SA players St Mirren F.C. players Scottish football scouts Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong