‘People wished I was dead’ – Sky Sports presenter exposes shock online trolling and ‘real issues in Scottish football’

SOCIAL media can be a positive influence on our lives in a number of ways. Engaging with others, following news and trends, promoting important messages and showing support to friends and family.

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But there’s no denying it can also be a breeding ground for abuse, and a Sky Sports presenter has opened up on some of the horrific trolls she’s had to deal with.

Hayley McQueen, daughter of the late Scotland and Manchester United legend Gordon McQueen, has been a regular fixture on Sky for many years now and was the main anchor on their coverage of the Scottish Premiership for a period.

She continues to work on Sky Sports News to this day and now also hosts a podcast alongside fellow presenters Kelly Cates (daughter of Sir Kenny Dalglish) and Christine Lampard (wife of Frank Lampard).

On the Not Just Football podcast this week, the trio explored the impact of social media on their lives and on society in general.

And it prompted Ms McQueen to reveal some of the shocking abuse she had received online.

She explained that rather than cowering away however, she sought answers and was able to take trolls to task over their actions.

And she admitted that she encountered serious issues when she was working in Scottish football in particular.

She said: “I do like a bit of investigative journalism.

“I’ve done it before when I had abuse on social media and I managed to find the person’s IP address and found what else they’ve commented on, what they’ve retweeted, where they were and if they were on LinkedIn.”

Ms McQueen then gave some examples of the sick abuse she had dealt with, including people wishing death on her or that a plane she was on would crash.

She also said there were problems with Celtic fans who accused her of being a Rangers supporter.

“I had real issues when I was working up in Scottish football,” she said.

“If I was covering a Celtic game it was like, ‘oh she’s a Rangers fan’.

“I’m not, but in 1998 my dad happened to do an interview with Shoot! Magazine where he said he loved Glasgow Rangers, so of course I can’t turn up to a Celtic match and report ever again!

“I’ve had some horrendous comments.

“I’ve had people wishing I was dead when I was pregnant.

“I’ve got on a flight and they’ve said, ‘oh I hope the plane goes down’.

“I had one that was really bad and my producer at Sky wanted nothing to do with it, they just said to ignore it.

“But this one person I had found where they worked and I got in touch with their workplace and sent a letter and printed out the messages they posted on their Instagram account.

“I don’t know what happened. I never got a reply but the person’s account was gone.

“I had found them on LinkedIn and written to their boss. That made me feel better about it.

“I didn’t out them on social media but they knew what I’d done.”

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