Off Topic Paul Stewart: I was sexually abused by my football coach for four years

The former Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool player Paul Stewart has revealed he turned to drink and drugs during his career after suffering sexual abuse by a youth coach.

Stewart, who played three times for England, claimed he was assaulted on a daily basis for four years by a coach who had told him he would “make him a star”.

“One day, travelling in the car, he started to touch me. It frightened me to death, I did not know what to do, I tried to tell my parents not to let him in but I was only 11,” Stewart told the Daily Mirror.

“From then, it progressed to sexually abusing me, he said he would kill my mother, my father, my two brothers if I breathed a word about it. And at 11 years old, you believe that.

“He would say: ‘Does anyone want to drive the car?’ I sat with a leg on one side by the steering wheel. That is when he first touched me.”

He added: “The mental scars led me into other problems with drink and drugs. I know now it was a grooming process. The level of abuse got worse and worse.”

His revelations come after the former Crewe Alexandra player Andy Woodward waived his anonymity to tell the Guardian about the abuse he suffered under the youth coach Barry Bennell. Steve Walters, one of Woodward’s former team-mates, has also spoken out about his abuse at the hands of Bennell, who served nine years after admitting 23 specimen charges of sexual offences, including buggery, against six boys aged nine to 15. Woodward has criticised Crewe for their lack of apology in the first official statement the club have released about the escalating Bennell case.

Stewart, who is now a businessman based in Blackpool, said he had decided to go public nearly 40 years after the abuse in the hope more victims will come forward.

“You would not believe how many times I contemplated suicide, even when things were going well,” he said. “I was playing for Spurs and England, at the peak of my success. But there was that constant feeling. It was so dark and I just wanted to step out of it. Drinking was a release.

“Over the years I have thought: ‘Why did I not tell anybody?’ But it is because of the stigma that was attached to it. A child could be ostracised and it is hard for family to believe it. Sometimes they would believe the adult.

“I am sure there are players … who have struggled through life. I want them to feel they are not alone and not to be ashamed of it, and hopefully something can be done if these people are still alive.”

 

Well that's ruined our inside joke...

 

poor ****er

 

Certainly should be a consideration, but the banter is of such an affectionate nature that I would imagine that PS himself (if even aware of it) might prefer it to continue.

Brave man - and difficult to comprehend the mental anguish he must have suffered all those years. Wish him well

 

I feel very guilty now.

I wish him well.

 

It's certainly a story to keep in mind when we read about players going off the rails and blowing their careers.
It's easy to sit here and criticise, believing that they have everything going for them, when we don't necessarily know the truth.
Is someone like Grealish a stupid, naive, arrogant child who's wasting his talent or is there more to it? Who knows?

I hope that Paul Stewart continues to get the help and support that he needs.
I also hope that there's more of an eye being kept on possible abuse of youngsters in the game.
The Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno scandal rocked American football.
It should be seen as a warning to all sports.

 

Did LDL ever coach Paul Stewart ... ??

 

The other recent cases linked to Crewe Alexandra are particularly disturbing as that club (under the tutelage of Dario Gradi for 30 years) had an amazing record of developing youth players.
It would be a tragedy if that legacy was ruined - and hopefully the allegations will be limited only to this one coach.

 

David White has now disclosed he was a victim of sexual abuse too

 

Another player pointing the finger at Barry Bennell, the former Crewe coach and convicted paedophile.

I mentioned this on the Premier League board a while ago and I think that it was missed at the time.
Bennell coached Gary Speed as a youngster.
Is that a coincidence? Seems unlikely, doesn't it?
I wonder how many other lives that scumbag's ruined?

 

Bet it took a lot of courage to say that in public.

Particularly for such a high profile player

 

It takes a lot of bravery to let your loved ones and strangers know that adults have abused you like these people are doing.
It's not really a surprise that it has happened to young footballers in the 1970s/1980s when you consider the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, in the music industry, the entertainment industry, children's homes, schools, the scouting movement etc. but is still shocking that anyone can hurt children and get away with it for decades.
Hopefully these players will gain strength and support from these revelations and can hopefully get some closure and peace.

As a side note I do not think that the joke about Paul on this site is anything to feel guilty about. It was always done with fondness and was never insulting...I hope it doesn't stop because we remember him as a player who scored our last FA Cup winning goal and as a player who played for a lot of clubs...because of this he is a cult hero of sorts and should remain one. This is how we should treat him...he deserves it in my opinion.

 

Well said .

 

cheers OS

 

Here's a snippet of an interview. Very hard to watch.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38093957

 

Not sure of the words to describe this as at it's heart there is the internal pain and torment that PS has been going through. But for me there is such a positive message from it - and his motivation is clearly personal but also strongly altruistic.
Brave and dignified guy. Really hope this helps banish his demons!!

 

Well put. His pain is clear to see though. Respected him as a player, respect him more as a man.

 

It is tough viewing; it also shows how abuse as a child clearly stays with the victim throughout their lives.

I never expected Paul Stewart's name would be associated with this type of thing. The affectionate joke was always based on an assumption that he was a bit of happy-go-lucky bloke - like a mate from the pub who'd made it as a pro footballer, a bit overweight, with a dodgy perm (although I don't think it was actually permed) and a happy knack of scoring goals when it mattered. Never a top player, but seemingly always turning out for one team or another and in the news. Hence the joke.

We never knew he was such a troubled soul.

 

And more importantly, the reasons why!

 

I see one of the coaches involved in this was from Newcastle.

There's one famous player from that area, that I keep wondering might have been a victim of something like this.