Sky Sports’ Hayley McQueen knows a thing or two about being a prominent female figure in the world of sport.
McQueen, one of Sky’s most popular anchors and presenters, has been in the leading pack of female talent on Sky Sports News which proudly boasts a number of the UK’s most respected broadcasters, including Kirsty Gallacher and Natalie Sawyer.
McQueen, daughter of former Scotland international Gordon McQueen, recently visited UCFB Wembley to talk to students about her exciting career path so far and to pass on words of wisdom to fellow females hoping to follow in her footsteps.
With media leading the way in the number of females employed in its rank, McQueen highlighted the likes of medical, marketing and sales roles as areas where more and more women are being employed, but hoped that public incidents, like what was seen last year between then Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and doctor Eva Carneiro, doesn’t put females off working in the football and sport industry.
McQueen said: “Unfortunately that was the worst thing that could have possibly happened in that situation. The headlines probably came out because she was a woman and Mourinho undermined her position. I think that was frustrating because it set everybody back a little bit and thought ‘well maybe women can’t work in the industry’, ‘she made this mistake’ or ‘according to Mourinho she’s made this mistake’. I hope things like that won’t put women off.”
No stranger to football growing up, McQueen started her journey in the world of sports journalism with Middlesbrough’s in-house TV channel Boro TV as a reporter, before going on to Manchester United and then making her name on Sky.
Her advice to women wanting to enter the football and sport industry is simple: “See yourself as an equal, because you are.”
McQueen added: “Don’t think of yourself as ‘I’m a girl it’s going to be tough’, don’t even see yourself as a sex – just see yourself as an equal. As soon as you see yourself as an equal, which you are, other people will see that too. Women are equal in every other industry so why can’t they be in sport? If you’re someone who has grown up with sport, that’s what you should be doing, so don’t let it put you off.”
