SKY sports presenter Hayley McQueen has urged football bosses to act after a coroner ruled heading the ball was a factor in her dad’s death.
Centre-half Gordon made the manoeuvre thousands of times in his 15-year career for Man United and Leeds United.
Ten years before his death, at 70, in Hutton Rudby, North Yorks, the 6ft 3in Scottish international told family: “There’s something not right in my head.”
Analysis of his brain found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy — a brain disorder linked to repeated head impacts — and vascular dementia.
Coroner Jonathan Heath concluded that “repetitive head impact sustained from heading the ball” contributed to brain damage.
After the hearing in Northallerton, Hayley, 46, said: “He loved football but, ultimately, it took him in the end.
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“He was certain himself it was possibly from heading footballs. Now we know it is.
“My dad’s main message would be to warn others against the dangers of heading and protect future generations.”
She urged football authorities to step in to help and said too little was done after former West Brom striker Jeff Astle died in 2002, aged 59.
A coroner recorded death by industrial injury caused by heading.
Hayley said: “It should have been a turning point and not much has happened between that time and now.”
McQueen’s daughter Anna Forbes branded the Professional Footballers’ Association a “disgrace” for its lack of support.
The PFA was contacted for comment.
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