In some ways it should not come as a shock, given the horrific stories that have already poured forth from the media, showbusiness and music industries about institutionalised abuse of children in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. But we may never become inured to the numbing, dizzying dislocation that has been prompted by Andy Woodward’s startlingly brave, disarmingly matter-of-fact account of how his childhood was stolen by a convicted paedophile football coach employed by Crewe Alexandra and several other clubs during the 1980s and 1990s.
To read Woodward’s account is to be reminded that this was likely to have been no isolated case and that there are likely to be more perpetrators and others, possibly many others, who were similarly affected. It is naive to think that football – with its similar cocktail of glamour, ambition, power and opportunity – could not also be a breeding ground for those wanting to prey on boys who would do almost anything to make it as a professional.
Continue reading...Football | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2f8H1SA