Paedophilia within the game/City launch redress scheme

Not to be a know it all but some of you maybe aware that I have previously posted information about this horrible bastard Bennell including reference to his cousin Ronnie however it was deemed not relevant and removed from the forum.

Not why I am posting.
I knew Andy Woodward’s sister was married to Barry but I had know Idea his Mum’s sister was Ronnie’s 1st murder.

Just how the hell did that come about.

Mind boggling.
 
toffee balls said:
Not to be a know it all but some of you maybe aware that I have previously posted information about this horrible bastard Bennell including reference to his cousin Ronnie however it was deemed not relevant and removed from the forum.

Not why I am posting.
I knew Andy Woodward’s sister was married to Barry but I had know Idea his Mum’s sister was Ronnie’s 1st murder.

Just how the hell did that come about.

Mind boggling.
Click to expand...

Yep, I read that with the old paper cutting thinking I've seen that before and it must be from here.

Beggars belief.
 
I hope all these vile, sinister bastards from the /70s/80s etc who haven't been caught yet are now having many sleepless nights. The net is closing. I played football to a pretty high standard when I was a kid and remember having trials at Hough end and the place in Didsbury (which name escapes me) for City at various times, and many football competitions all over Gtr Mcr. Only by luck or the grace of God I was kept away from that vile permy haired predatory nonse Bennell.My heart goes out to anybody who crossed his sick path.
 
He (bb) made a mistake with me and sent a message asking did i want to go fishing to buxton, did i fuck...i wanted a trial at maine road for the first team. He wasnt happy when his messenger told him my reply, he looks pathetic nowadays but back then with cap sleeve t-shirts he knew how to how to bully a twelve yr old...he didnt take his eyes off me playing five a side, i didnt understand back then my reply was obviously interpreted to be a knock back...i had a stroke of luck cause whilst bennell was hanging about full of thunder...an ex armed blagger dad come steaming up to the pitch looking for his missing son and told both teams (the sons mates) to tell him when he gkt hold of him he was gonna ring his bastherd neck. the comical blaggger dad looked like a greek centurion and i looked round to see what bennells cap sleeve t shirt made of the interuption...he was gone like a dog in the fog, moments earlier it was my 12 yr old arse flapping and next news it was bb's turn to shit himself...obviously i didnt know then an irate centurion parent marching up to a match must have been his nightmare...close shaves all round.
 
Not an easy read this, but glad to hear that the club are doing the right thing in the way they have handled this. Bennell's victims have been given personal apologies from the board and financial compensation. There are also "plans to create a permanent structure to recognise the people who exposed Bennell’s crimes and, in turn, helped to make football a safer place for future generations of children".

Behind The Athletic paywall unfortunately, but here's the link for anyone with a subscription:
https://theathletic.co.uk/1662887/2020/03/11/gary-cliffe-manchester-city-apology/

Here's a few quotes for anyone without:
It was not just the sincerity of the apology, it was the level of knowledge that accompanied it and the realisation that, behind the scenes at City, this has been a full-time operation ever since they realised they had a scandal on their hands. Cliffe’s story was the first to be put to the board and the chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, set the tone. “I want no stone unturned,” he told his colleagues. “I want us to do everything we can, I want our best people on this.”

It was [Simon] Pearce who delivered the apology and, though there should be parts of that conversation that remain private, it lasted for the best part of two hours. When it was all done he and Cliffe embraced and held one another.

Another of the club’s executives, Vicky Kloss, was also present. She, too, spoke beautifully about how personally invested she had been in the process and how the club had made it a priority — quietly, diligently, without seeking publicity — to establish exactly what went on, learn from it and make sure it could never happen again.

They listened. They overwhelmingly seemed to care.
Click to expand...
 
cheekybids said:
Very proud of the transparency of the club, we can’t change the past but we need to acknowledge & take responsibility for the horrific acts.
Click to expand...

I've written about being disillusioned with The Athletic and cancelling my subscription, but I paid straight up for a year at a big discount and still have access. I've therefore read Danny Taylor's article, linked to above, about Gary Cliffe, who was in the City youth system when abused by Bennell. While it's quite harrowing in many ways at least it gives grounds for encouragement in terms of the way the club is dealing with the matter. I've also slated a wide range of football journalists recently but think that Taylor is due great credit for his work on this subject going back to 2016.

Anyway, I agree with the post above: we can't undo what was done but it's vital that we fully acknowledge the wrongs that the club perpetrated in the past, make a genuine apology for them and seek to atone for it as best we can (while being aware that we'll never be able to do enough). It sounds as though that's what the club is doing. I asked Danny a while back on Twitter when the findings of City's inquiry might become known, and he said it could take some time depending on whether Bennell faces another trial for offences which have come to light more recently. However, he thought it would happen this year.

It's obvious that the findings, whenever they're made public, are going to be extremely damning. The piece quotes Simon Pearce as saying that City "will be rightly smashed" and, while it may be better not to name names at this stage, I suspect that some individual reputations (including those of one or two of people who are regarded as club stalwarts) may be shredded in addition to crass institutional failings being laid bare.

In particular, it will be interesting to find out the identity of the City figure named by Cliffe when giving evidence at Bennell's trial as someone who probably had knowledge of the abuse. This person must still be alive, or at least must have been alive after the start of City's inquiry into historic abuse by people linked to the club, because Taylor lets us know that Cliffe was somewhat shaken by finding out that the person in question “will not engage” with the club on this matter.

We should probably also note that the report states there are some Bennell victims who "are taking civil action and have opted not to accept City’s terms". Maybe, then, we should hold fire and wait until we have full information before assessing whether or not the modern MCFC is absolutely beyond reproach for its reaction to events in the here and now. But in the meantime, I take encouragement from the fact that Taylor clearly views our actions positively, especially given his background working on the story and building close relationships with several of the men abused.

As someone with a major emotional investment in this club, I find myself absolutely horrified that MCFC behaved in a way that facilitated vile large-scale abuse by a predatory paedophile such as Bennell. It matters greatly to me that we should now handle the matter unimpeachably. I thus find it a positive for Taylor to call Cliffe a "friend" and then write the following about his friend's recent dealings with the club:

Ultimately, though, Cliffe feels like he has been “welcomed back as part of the City family”. That matters after so many years of feeling betrayed and let down. It was the old City, not the later version, that failed him so badly and, though he would be entitled to hold a permanent grudge against the former regime, the apology has encouraged him to think there is a human side to the modern operation.​
 
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