Gordon McQueen

Gordon McQueen (born 26 June 1952) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for St Mirren, Leeds United and Manchester United. McQueen also represented Scotland.

Gordon McQueen
Personal information
Full name Gordon McQueen[1]
Date of birth (1952-06-26) 26 June 1952[1]
Place of birth Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, Scotland [2]
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1972 St Mirren 57 (5)
1972–1978 Leeds United 140 (15)
1978–1985 Manchester United 184 (20)
1985 Seiko SA
Total 381 (40)
National team
1974–1981 Scotland 30 (5[4])
Teams managed
1987–1988 Airdrieonians
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career
McQueen (background, right) playing for Manchester United in 1983

McQueen was a goalkeeper as a schoolboy but later switched to centre-back. He was signed at the age of 18 by St Mirren. He soon had scouts from other clubs monitoring his progress and it was Leeds United who finally offered £30,000 in the 1972 close season, seeing him as a long-term replacement for the ageing Jack Charlton.[5] Charlton played for some of the 1972–73 season but had decided to retire as the season was drawing to a close.[6] McQueen played on six occasions in his first season[5] at Leeds but missed out on the 1973 FA Cup Final, with manager Don Revie instead opting for the experience of utility player Paul Madeley.

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 a key part alongside Norman Hunter as Leeds' first-choice centre back pairing.[6] At the end of that season McQueen was called up to the Scotland squad and made his international debut versus Belgium.[7]

McQueen and Hunter excelled at the back the following season, notably in Leeds' campaign in the European Cup, 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. Leeds went on to lose 2–0 in the final versus Bayern Munich.[6]

McQueen was now a regular for the Scotland national football team, as he was selected for the 1978 FIFA World Cup squad for Argentina, although he could not play due to injury. He played his last match for Scotland in 1981, gaining 30 caps and scoring five goals.[4]

In February 1978, McQueen moved from Leeds to their arch-rivals Manchester United for £500,000.[3] On signing, he said that "99% of players want to play for Manchester United and the rest are liars."[8] He had declared only weeks earlier in Shoot magazine that he wanted to stay at Elland Road for his entire career. He helped Manchester United reach the 1979 FA Cup Final, scoring a goal in the 86th minute.[9]

McQueen finally gained an FA Cup winner's medal in the 1983 FA Cup Final after a replay versus Brighton & Hove Albion. He was also in the team that was defeated in the 1983 Football League Cup Final versus Liverpool that same season. He finally left Old Trafford in the 1985 close season, after losing his first-team place to Paul McGrath and not being included in the 1985 FA Cup Final team that defeated Everton 1–0.

Post playing career

McQueen coached abroad before he was the manager of Airdrieonians for a short spell,[10] before coaching at his first club St Mirren.[3] When McQueen's friend and former team-mate Bryan Robson was appointed the manager of Middlesbrough, McQueen joined him as reserve-team coach. McQueen left the Teesside club when Robson departed and then joined Sky Sports as a pundit.

On 29 April 2008, McQueen had returned to Boro as assistant scout, alongside David Mills. McQueen, who still lives in the region, specifically the village of Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire, has a son and two daughters who are Boro supporters.[11]

Personal life

McQueen became a father in 1979 to Hayley, who is a sports journalist on Sky Sports and the Red Devils TV channel MUTV.[12]

In October 2011, McQueen was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx and started treatment at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, near his home in North Yorkshire.[13]

Politically, McQueen is a Labour supporter.[14]

Honours

Club

Leeds United[15]

Manchester United[15][16]

Individual

Career statistics

International
Scotland[20]
YearAppsGoals
197420
197571
197620
197762
197861
197961
1980—
198110
Total305

International goals
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.[21]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
11 June 1975Stadionul 23 August, Bucharest Romania1–11–1UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying
21 June 1977Hampden Park, Glasgow Northern Ireland3–03–01976–77 British Home Championship
34 June 1977Wembley Stadium, London England1–02–1
420 September 1978Praterstadion, Vienna Austria1–32–3UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
57 June 1979Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Norway4–04–0

See also

References
  1. "Gordon McQueen". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. "GORDON McQUEEN at the Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Database". Neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. 26 June 1952.
  3. "RedCafe.net – Gordon McQueen 1977–1985". Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. "Scotland – Record International Players at RSSSF". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  5. "Gordon McQueen at". Leeds-fans.org.uk.
  6. "Gordon McQueen at Leeds United MAD". Leedsutd-mad.co.uk.
  7. "Gordon McQueen at Scotland the Complete record 1872 to 2005". Londonhearts.com.
  8. "Gordon McQueen '99 Percent' Quote T-Shirt". Tshirtsunited.com.
  9. "BBC – Manchester – Sport – 1979 FA Cup Final". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  10. "The Stomp – Managers 1984–1988". Thefootballnetwork.net. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  11. "Mills and McQueen Boost Recruitment Team". Middlesbrough F.C. 29 April 2008. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  12. Steinberg, Jacob (15 March 2014). "Hayley McQueen: 'I went to Wimpy dressed as Kylie'". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2016. As much as having a dad in football [Gordon McQueen] goes against me sometimes because I have the nepotism card thrown in my face, it helps because no one is going to mess with a 6ft 5in defender who was part of the Dirty Leeds crew.
  13. "Gordon McQueen to have cancer treatment in Middlesbrough". BBC. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  14. Ronay, Barney (25 April 2007). "Anyone want to play on the left?". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  15. "Gordon McQueen – Scottish Football Hall of Fame". Scottish Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  16. "Manchester United celebrate with the FA Charity Shield after their..." Getty Images. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  17. Lynch, Tony (1995). The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. London: Random House. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-09-179135-3.
  18. Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 142.
  19. "Every Leeds United Player of the Season winner since award was first handed out in 197". Leeds Live. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  20. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Gordon McQueen". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  21. "Gordon McQueen | Scotland | Scottish FA". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
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