Young footballers abused by coaches discussion thread

Talk of compensation is not a good way to get to the truth.

 

I never think it reflects well on people unfortunately. Too early for this sort of talk and who would they be trying to get compensation from? Saints is a different company since 2009 so surely wouldn't be expected to pay. I understand getting justice to try to heal the wounds but I don't see how compensation will do that. I hope this doesn't sound uncaring because that is not my intention.

 

Justice doesn't heal wounds, it just stops others being effected. Some of these players have been ignored for years and not cared about. They see compensation the only way of getting their own back on how they have been treated by the club that didn't listen to them. For some they don't see that the police and courts doing anything, so want their own kind of justice.

Is it the right way of going about it? probably not. But the truth has been covered up for years, so I can see why some would go this way.

 

That's a shame. I believe the law should be given a chance and would help those affected if a conviction was obtained. Professional help should also be offered. Each case at each club will be different and only when the investigations are complete will we know who knew what.

 

Yep it is,but I can't blame them. They were abused as kids yet only now are their claims being looked into it properly. So they have gone their whole adult lifes suffering. The old court case against Higgins sounded like a complete **** up.

 

Football Abuse Claims Extend To 98 Clubs

There are now 83 potential suspects and 98 clubs involved in the inquiry into child abuse in football, police chiefs have said.

The investigations span all tiers of football, "from premier clubs through to amateur", the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said.

Police forces across the country are continuing to receive calls, it added.

Of the identified victims, 98% were male, and the age at the time of abuse was between seven and 20, police said.

A total of 639 referrals had been received from the helpline set up by the children's charity the NSPCC, and directly from police forces.

The information is being passed to Operation Hydrant - which oversees the investigation of allegations of "non-recent" child sex abuse within institutions - which collates it and shares it across forces.

The NPCC's lead for child protection said the allegations were "being swiftly acted upon" by police.

Although 98 football clubs had been "referenced", not all were necessarily under investigation, the police said.

Just keeps getting worse...

 

There was an interesting statement in the programme at yesterday's Winchester City FC programme which outline the grave concerns about Higgins who was briefly a coach at the club although having no involvement in the youth set up and his immediate dismissal from the club. It would seem that the evidence against him was pretty widespread and certainly well known within the local football community.

The two things that make me easy about this case in particular is that the original court case against him failed to deliver a guilty verdict even if some of the behavior is suggestive that, even if innocent, it would appear to be inappropriate for Higgins to have a career in the game. The other issue is that this appears to be going down a "trial by media" route and, as far as I am aware, he has yet to be found guilty of any crime. From what little I have read, the football authorities in Hampshire (including a number of clubs like Winchester) had acted promptly but I think that the concerns were so well understood within the football community that you wonder what exactly has gone wrong to allow him to still have a career in the game. It does seem to me to be indicative of failings within the FA but perhaps at a level that is higher than the local game.

 

If this happened today and he was found not guilty I wonder how clubs, the FA etc would be able to do what they did back then without being sued. There must be more to this than is being said because surely he would have sued back then too?

How did the FA/police get away without being sued for sending out letters advising not to employ a man that was found not guilty? Is there someone higher up in society being protected?

 

The court case was a mess. I read a article on it when the Higgins stuff started hitting. No witnesses were allowed to give evidence according to the article I read.

 

Just been listening to s0ome more of this on Radio 2.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38399324

Andy Woodward still waiting to give his account to police... pretty poor that, if not suprising.

 

This is not limited to football....sadly, abuse is found wherever there are children in the care of adults that are trusted....schools, clubs and churches. Perverts congregate where there are opportunities. The only thing that can be done is reduce opportunities...in the end that will also put off genuine people who just want to give kids a good childhood and will limit children's freedom. I'm coming round to the idea that paedophilia isn't that rare....it can almost be considered as just one of the range of sexual behaviours. Now that is depressing.

 

You are correct Fran. It is a sorry thing that people like me who coach a boys team have to stop and think about every action. Simple things like texting game and training details always has top be done to the parents. As a coach and a parent, it is scary. Very scary. I even go on my kids paper rounds at weekends.

 

It doesn't help abuse victims are treat like ****. It's why many victims actually become the abuser. Their life gets messed up and no one helps them out, so they end up having a warped view of life.