Samuel James McQueen (born 6 February 1995) is an English former 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 le ...

. Other than loan periods at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

in 2016 and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in 2018, he spent his career at hometown club

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, having joined the club's

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

at the age of eight. He played primarily as a left-sided full-back or winger. McQueen was forced to retire at the age of 26 in 2022 after failing to recover from a knee injury experienced while on loan at Middlesbrough. McQueen initially ruptured the ACL in his right knee but experienced a series of setbacks culminating in his retirement.

Early life

McQueen was born in

and attended

The Mountbatten School The Mountbatten School is an 11–16 secondary school located on Whitenap Lane in Romsey, Hampshire, England. The school is an Academy (English school), Academy, but opened in 1969 as a Comprehensive school, comprehensive. Specialist status and ...

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the t ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

scouted him when he was eight years old whilst playing for Oakwood Rangers, a local youth side. He was part of the Southampton F.C. Academy U13 side that were runners-up in the prestigious Dr Pepper

Dallas Cup The ''Dallas Cup'', is an annual international Football (soccer), football tournament for invited youth teams. The tournament was established i1980and is held in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, with FC Dallas serving as its host club. Venues used for the t ...

Tournament in Texas where they lost 1–0 to FC Barcelona California in 2008. The same team included other academy products

James Ward-Prowse James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse (born 1 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Southampton and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth teams, Ward-Prowse ...

Luke Shaw Luke Paul Hoare Shaw (born 12 July 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Manchester United and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth system, Shaw made his first-team debu ...

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, Harrison Reed,

Jordan Turnbull Jordan Robert Turnbull (born 30 October 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central defender for League Two club Tranmere Rovers. Turnbull began his career with the academy of Southampton, signing his first professional ...

Jake Sinclair Jake Tony Sinclair (born 29 November 1994) is an English footballer who has played professionally for Southampton and Hibernian. He is currently a striker for Mangotsfield United. Career Sinclair joined Southampton at the academy level at ...

and

Dominic Gape Dominic Edward Gape (born 9 September 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Northampton Town. Career Born in Burton Bradstock, West Dorset, Gape joined Southampton when he was eight years old, first ...

all who gained professional contracts in later years with the club.

Club career

McQueen was named in the Southampton senior team for the first time on 15 February 2014 for the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fifth round match against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

; he came on in the second half for his debut, playing the last eight minutes of the 0–1 defeat, in place of

Adam Lallana Adam David Lallana ( ; born 10 May 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Lallana began his youth career with AFC Bournemouth before transferring to Southampton in 200 ...

. McQueen signed a new four-year contract on 17 June 2014. In January 2016, McQueen completed a loan move to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

until the end of the season. He made his league debut in the 3–0 home win over

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 86th minute. He scored his first league goal as a professional 11 days later in his first full league start in the

Essex derby In English football, the Essex derby is the local derby between the two professional teams in the English county of Essex – Colchester United and Southend United. The first Essex derby match that took place was a 4–2 victory for Southend ...

against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

on his 21st birthday. He made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

debut for Southampton on 16 October 2016, when he replaced

Matt Targett Matthew Robert Targett (born 18 September 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a left back for Premier League club Newcastle United. Targett came through the Southampton academy and was named their ''Young Player of the Season'' in 2 ...

at left-back after 14 minutes of a 3–1 win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, winning a penalty for the third goal. Four days later, he made his

2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2017 UEFA Eu ...

debut and first senior start for the ''Saints'' on 20 October versus

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

. This was followed three days later by his first league start for them in a 1–1 away draw with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. On 5 December 2016, McQueen signed a new long-term contract with Southampton, penning a deal until 2021. On 30 August 2018, McQueen signed for

on a season-long loan. In October 2018, he suffered a serious knee injury in a game against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

. McQueen's recovery was disrupted by recurring infections of his knee construction, which required additional surgeries. In April 2021, Southampton manager

Ralph Hasenhüttl Ralph Hasenhüttl (; born 9 August 1967) is an Austrian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Premier League club Southampton. During his playing career, he played as a centre forward. Playing caree ...

said it would be a "miracle" if McQueen played again. McQueen retired from professional football as a result of his injuries on 1 January 2022.

International career

McQueen received his first call-up for the England under-21 side as a squad member for a pair of

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in March 2017. McQueen was an unused substitute in the Germany match but was handed his debut on 27 March, starting at left-back in the game against Denmark.

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

, the manager, was quoted as saying "Sam McQueen was excellent" in the 4–0 victory against Denmark.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from professional football, he returned to Southampton in a coaching role, predominantly working with the under-18s.

Career statistics

Honours

Southampton U21 *

U21 Premier League Cup The Premier League Cup is an English football competition run by the Premier League for under–21 sides. History The competition was created in 2013 as the U21 Premier League Cup, an U21 equivalent of the FA Youth Cup (an U18 competition com ...

: 2014–15 Southampton *

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

runner-up: 2016–17

References

External links

*
England profile
at The FA {{DEFAULTSORT:McQueen, Sam 1995 births Living people Footballers from Southampton Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Premier League players English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players England men's under-21 international footballers