Club statement regarding Barry Bennell's conviction

Rascal said:
For those who consider my post to be hysterical all I can say is this is a lot closer to home for some than others.

I could post a hell of a lot more here but I wont as I would be seen as hysterical.

That's how cover ups work.
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What 'cover up'?
 
ChicagoBlue said:
Anyone know who to contact at the Club about this? Phone number/email?

PMs welcomed.
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In the statement they said to use safeatcity@cityfootball.com

If you'd rather talk to someone than email I'm sure you could use the email to ask for a number.

Manchester City and the Review Team remain keen to speak to any survivor of, or witness to sexual abuse which might in any way be connected to Manchester City or which could support the ongoing enquiry. Anyone wishing to contact the Club with such information can do so by contacting safeatcity@cityfootball.com.

All such approaches will be treated with the utmost sensitivity and discretion.
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Bewar3them00n said:
This is from an age where kids were still “seen and not heard” and just either ignored, or accused of “fantasy” everybody of a similar age to the victims, know someone who has been a victim of some kind of abuse from those in a position of power.
I was physically assaulted by a teacher on several occasions, ritually humiliated in front of my classmates, and I count myself as being lucky. My younger sister was invited back for “extra lessons “at a deputy heads house, my parents thankfully refused, said teacher was a child abuser, and served time.
My brother is good friends with one of Bennell’s victims, and featured in the Dispatches doc tonight, he is a wreck at the moment.
This is the tip of the iceberg, and a sad indictment of that era, I hope the shit truly hits the fan.
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Sorry to hear about the troubles in your childhood. Sad to say, it’s not too dissimilar to my own experiences and probably thousands of other kids.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
Perhaps they should dump the experienced lawyer and QC heading their extensive investigation and get you in instead. It'd save a lot of time & money.
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Thanks fur the response.

I'm saying I think city have a moral duty to act irrespective of the legal position.

Lots of posters are telling us city at doing exactly the right thing having a qc and an inquiry, including you. Well, I haven't seen the brief so don't know whether it is aimed at making sure city are implicated as little as possible or if it is aimed at leaving no stone unturned. One is a damage limitation exercise (like the Kelly death or early Hillsborough inquiries), the other is what I hope we are planning to do.
 
Bluster said:
Thanks fur the response.

I'm saying I think city have a moral duty to act irrespective of the legal position.

Lots of posters are telling us city at doing exactly the right thing having a qc and an inquiry, including you. Well, I haven't seen the brief so don't know whether it is aimed at making sure city are implicated as little as possible or if it is aimed at leaving no stone unturned. One is a damage limitation exercise (like the Kelly death or early Hillsborough inquiries), the other is what I hope we are planning to do.
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Your last half of your last sentence is what is happening.
 
Bluster said:
Thanks fur the response.

I'm saying I think city have a moral duty to act irrespective of the legal position.

Lots of posters are telling us city at doing exactly the right thing having a qc and an inquiry, including you. Well, I haven't seen the brief so don't know whether it is aimed at making sure city are implicated as little as possible or if it is aimed at leaving no stone unturned. One is a damage limitation exercise (like the Kelly death or early Hillsborough inquiries), the other is what I hope we are planning to do.
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By all reports it’s the latter. I trust our owners to do the right thing both morally and legally.
 
Rascal said:
For those who consider my post to be hysterical all I can say is this is a lot closer to home for some than others.

I could post a hell of a lot more here but I wont as I would be seen as hysterical.

That's how cover ups work.
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I trust you have given all information you can go the clubs investogation if you know anything that may help.
 
Rascal said:
For those who consider my post to be hysterical all I can say is this is a lot closer to home for some than others.

I could post a hell of a lot more here but I wont as I would be seen as hysterical.

That's how cover ups work.
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In one post you state something like City's reputation is sullied for eternity . That's one reason posters think you are being hysterical . Not as much focus is on Crewe where the biggest damage was done, I believe Bennell was there for 7 years . Our owners are approaching this the right way, paedophilia was covered up back in the day, social media and the internet were not there to share information as we can do now. These victims would have been scared to report the abuse and probably never discussed it with other victims or family. Its not inconceivable the heirachy at City even knew about the rumours, we shall have to wait and see. As for Crewe, the rumours about their management team were rife in the lower leagues. I was told about this in the early eighties from the brother of a high profile footballer and from a mate who was friends with an ex Rag who had played in the lower leagues (not David Platt).
 
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Bluster said:
Lots of posters are telling us city at doing exactly the right thing having a qc and an inquiry, including you. Well, I haven't seen the brief so don't know whether it is aimed at making sure city are implicated as little as possible or if it is aimed at leaving no stone unturned. One is a damage limitation exercise (like the Kelly death or early Hillsborough inquiries), the other is what I hope we are planning to do.
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Read the article by Martin Samuel, it'll answer those questions for you.
 
In terms of away fans and if we get any negative comments coming our way (which I doubt we will as I think this is just the tip of the iceberg), I don’t really care either way. The most important thing to me is that people at City now are doing everything they can to find out the truth and seemingly be transparent with what they find. Nothing else matters than that and bringing any individuals involved to account.

Football clubs are odd in that fans almost see them as sentient beings in themselves. They aren’t, it is a collection of individuals and the City of today is a completely different entity to the one previously and a completely different set of people. If there was anything that the club didn’t do previously that should have done, then absolutely it should be exposed and made sure that it never happens again. If modern day city get some stick for it, then so be it. The important thing is bringing the facts to light, it’s the minimum of what anyone that suffered as part of this deserves.
 
It will be difficult to get to the bottom of this scandal, but City are doing the right thing in already setting the wheels in motion. There will be very few individuals who were working at the club from the 70's through to the 90's, which will likely be the period the investigation will likely focus on. One things for sure, anyone who working for or on behalf of the club during this period will likely get a knock on the door. The question is what will the club do with there findings and is there going to be the appetite by the wider football authorities and government to expose the perverts that committed these type of crimes. It is going to be a long road, but it is something that needs to be done.
 
meltonblue said:
In terms of away fans and if we get any negative comments coming our way (which I doubt we will as I think this is just the tip of the iceberg), I don’t really care either way. The most important thing to me is that people at City now are doing everything they can to find out the truth and seemingly be transparent with what they find. Nothing else matters than that and bringing any individuals involved to account.

Football clubs are odd in that fans almost see them as sentient beings in themselves. They aren’t, it is a collection of individuals and the City of today is a completely different entity to the one previously and a completely different set of people. If there was anything that the club didn’t do previously that should have done, then absolutely it should be exposed and made sure that it never happens again. If modern day city get some stick for it, then so be it. The important thing is bringing the facts to light, it’s the minimum of what anyone that suffered as part of this deserves.
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It's important to rise about it in my view. It is almost certain that other clubs have had the same issues at there club. This is a social issue that is likely to be bigger than football. Impossible to right the wrongs that have happened in the past, but it is essential the club do everything in there power to understand what happened and then collectively with the football authorities to share their finding to hopefully ensure it never happens again.
 
Rascal said:
For those who consider my post to be hysterical all I can say is this is a lot closer to home for some than others.

I could post a hell of a lot more here but I wont as I would be seen as hysterical.

That's how cover ups work.
Click to expand...

Are you insinuating you have additional hard facts, if so you should share them with the relevant authorities. I presume you also had these facts before this was all played out in the media?
 
With the club engaged in its own investigation in co-operation with the Police, this should prevent the hacks (for now) engaging in too much fanciful speculation, but importantly it also widens the frame.

At the moment City are "in the frame" but if this investigation goes where I think it will, it will broaden that frame considerably, drawing in other clubs and the FA. This will be for the benefit of the victims and football as a whole, though I doubt the football establishment will see it that way.

City has seized the initiative here for all the right reasons, there can be no accusations that the club is ducking and diving, which should ease the pressure on the club. It's important to emphasise that what City has chosen to do will shine a light on all sorts of appalling shit that happened in the past (and lets hope it is all in the past) while other clubs have chosen to duck and dive, step forward Chelsea and Stoke, and let's not forget Bennell coached at boarding schools and Butlin's holiday Camps! This thing is a whole lot wider than City.

In reports from the court case it was revealed that....

"The Professional Footballer’s Association has said that six or seven clubs are connected to allegations made including Stoke, Newcastle, Blackpool, Manchester City and Leeds."

https://www.enablelaw.com/barry-bennell-trial-ex-football-coach-child-abuse/

As the Guardian reported a total of 839 alleged victims had come forward by late-December 2017, with 2,094 incidents reported and 334 different clubs named!

At present City is the lone defendant in the dock of uniformed and in some cases malicious public opinion, I'm certain that won't be the case when this investigation concludes.
 
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It's very sad but to anyone who went to school in the 60s and 70s not a surprise. I think modern-day City are doing the right thing so far. It seems clear that in the late 70s and 80s our management set-up was a complete shambles. Let's be honest we were a disgrace in all areas of the business during this era under Swales so why should the way we protected our young players be any better.
If anyone did turn a blind eye they should be ashamed of themselves. They have brought shame to our club which has always had a fantastic reputation for community work in Manchester. This scandal will follow the same path as other ones in the Church and schools. No doubt it goes much wider than City but don't underestimate how much damage this will cause us if we do not get our response right.
 
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