Club statement regarding Barry Bennell's conviction

Do you remember that Crewe were media darlings in the 90s? Dario Gradi was footballing nobility. There were regular stories and comments praising them for their youth policy. The TV used to get all dewy-eyed if they could show a Crewe cup tie or something. I find it quite ironic that there's no introspection on the part of the media. Did they know about the rumours? Or did they not? They seem to know about everything else that goes on in the game. Before them, the youth coaches who shook their heads at the mention of his name. What did they really do? Seems to me lots in England knew but nobody did anything about it until the Yanks collared the turd.
 
caseball said:
Do you remember that Crewe were media darlings in the 90s? Dario Gradi was footballing nobility. There were regular stories and comments praising them for their youth policy. The TV used to get all dewy-eyed if they could show a Crewe cup tie or something. I find it quite ironic that there's no introspection on the part of the media. Did they know about the rumours? Or did they not? They seem to know about everything else that goes on in the game. Before them, the youth coaches who shook their heads at the mention of his name. What did they really do? Seems to me lots in England knew but nobody did anything about it until the Yanks collared the turd.
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The Yanks certainly made the breakthrough. The FIFA corruption scandal had to be broken by the States too.

More and more more players who died young are being linked to Bennell, including Alan Davies who played for United in the 83 Cup Final. There are a number of players in the City youth ranks in the late 70s and early 80s (some made it, some didn’t) who went on to commit suicide or drink themselves to oblivion. I don’t know if there was a link with Bennell but these paedo scumbags have ruined a lot of lives.
 
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The only thing we can hope is that the changes that have taken place since those days have worked, at least where football's concerned.
 
caseball said:
The only thing we can hope is that the changes that have taken place since those days have worked, at least where football's concerned.
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And the BBC, The Roman Catholic Church (by far the worst offenders), the Teaching Associations, Scout Leaders, Politicians, Actors, Musicians, DJ's, Charity workers, etc, etc. It was endemic and the perpetrators thought they would never be brought to justice.
 
geoff clipp said:
This is the stupidest thing I've ever read.
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“Barry Bennell was very good at finding boys, playing them in his team and offering them things to get his own way with them. He was in cahoots with Frank Roper and the kit he [Bennell] was giving to his kids was better than the kit I was giving to youth-team players at City. He bought them gifts. He paid for them to go on overnight trips.


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Barry Bennell had such a hold over his victims and their parents he persuaded many of them to give him character references before his 1994 court case. Photograph: Facebook
“I could see it wasn’t healthy. In fact, I’d think: ‘How can other people not see what he is?’ But a lot of people are blinded by fame and fortune. The kids, of course, were young and naive. The parents were all so desperate for success and the boys were starry-eyed because of his background at Chelsea. He was a circus act, juggling with the ball, and he fascinated young people. But he fascinated their parents, too.”

Bennell was cynical, controlling and predatory but he was nothing like the stereotype of the dirty old man. One mother recalls her first impression being that he was “gorgeous – bronzed, handsome, with bouncing curly hair”.
 
East Level 2 said:
I get your point, but surely our accounts were audited? Or did we have a different set to be audited?
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They can only audit whatever is declared. Nightclubs (for example) routinely use a portion of their door money to pay DJs and other casual staff cash-in-hand and off the books, with the remainder finding its way into the pockets of the owners and (sometimes) the management. If that money isn’t rung through (or is rang into a different, unconnected till) then no auditor is going to know (or probably care) about any skim, as long as the protagonists don’t get too greedy and start declaring figures that descend into the realm of the absurd.

A cash turnstile or two would provide the opportunity for an owner of a football club to feather their own nest, but also to make certain payments off the books, which might suit the way they wanted to run the business and enable them to skirt round the rules - which some people enjoy doing for its own ends because they are wired that way.
 
East Level 2 said:
I get your point, but surely our accounts were audited? Or did we have a different set to be audited?
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It was well know the crowds were doctored in those days with the vast majority of supporters paying cash on the gate. The crowd was for example announced as 40k when clearly there were a lot more in attendance. The cash would have been trousers by the board .no problem .
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
You can only audit whatever is declared. Nightclubs (for example) routinely use their door money to pay DJs and other casual staff cash in hand and off the books, with the remainder finding its way into the pockets of the owners and (sometimes) the management. If that money isn’t rung through (or is rang into a different, unconnected till) then no auditor is going to know (or probably care) about any skim, as long as the protagonists don’t get too greedy and start declaring figures that descend into the realm of the absurd.

A cash turnstile or two would provide the opportunity for an owner of a club to feather their own nest, but also to make certain payments off the books, which might suit the way the wanted to run the business and enable them to skirt round the rules - which some people enjoy doing for its own ends because they are wired that way.
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Saved me the post. There's a reason HMRC and Companies House aren't big fans of cash businesses.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
I guess so. All ours care about are the punctuality rather than the veracity of accounts being filed. HMRC (within which corporation tax is collected and enforced) are a little more concerned about both!
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Companies House are a repository for statutory forms. They have neither the legal duty nor the infrastructure to check documents filed. Consequently, companies can, and frequently do, file any old shit. Rely on information filed at Companies House at your peril.
 
This sadly has got an operation Yew Tree feel about it , it makes you feel sick and football just doesn’t feel important right now. One thing is for certain there are going to be many more stories to surface now it’s apparent people will be believed when coming forward and naming names. EVERY club in England will be dreading the next few months, if it can scandalise the BBC then this type of crime is even more likely to happen at a football club where procedures would have undoubtedly been a lot less strict than at an establishment like the BBC.

Shocking isn’t the word , this is a scandal of epic proportions.
 
OB1 said:
I hope that other supporters have enough dignity not to resort to jibes about this but I'm not totally confident that we will never hear something.
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Cardiff had to put up with aberfan chants from many clubs back in the day so doubt that the fact it's kids would make any difference.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
The maximum sentence for rape is life, but I don’t think the Judge has the power to impose life without the possibility of parole for anything other than a limited number of types of murder. It’s a moot point, as it's doubtful he will ever be released. By all accounts he’s not at all well. It’s extremely unusual for a defendant to be allowed to ‘attend’ their trial via videolink. Given the profile of the case, it’s doubtful this would have happened without some fairly forceful explanatory medical evidence.
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I'm obviously not a legal expert. I think issuing sentences without parole might be a US thing? However, he must never be allowed out and, given his health, I suspect you are right about his chances.

I tend to agree, BTW, with your earlier point about loss of innocence but in many ways that might be a topic for its own thread.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
With Swales at the helm? Really?
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There's part of the problem from City's end: Swales was in charge and as such mistakes being made on any matter would not be a surprise.

The bottom line here (no puns intended) is that a whole host of people made errors of judgment and that, sadly, includes parents of lads that were victims. The people that need to be rooted out are those, if any, that knowingly colluded with or covered up for Bennell.
 
OB1 said:
I'm obviously not a legal expert. I think issuing sentences without parole might be a US thing? However, he must never be allowed out and, given his health, I suspect you are right about his chances.

I tend to agree, BTW, with your earlier point about loss of innocence but in many ways that might be a topic for its own thread.
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They are not restricted to the States, but are unusual in this jurisdiction. According to the MoJ only 63 prisoners alive today are subject to such a sentence: comprised of mass-murderers, child-killers and the odd terrorist. I expect you could name a few of them.
 
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