Paedophilia within the game/City launch redress scheme

[cheekybids]

They actually moved in plain sight, that is the frightening aspect, an institutionalised system that turned a blind eye..

little things like having to turn up in a shirt & tie on a Saturday morning & being told your grooming is about standards gave them an excuse to inspect you. The filthy ***ts!

 

[toffee balls]

That woman who was murdered was Andy Woodward’s auntie. Sickening but he covers this as the beginning of his book.

Pat Noone.

I didn’t know they were related.

 

[01282]

Pat Noone.

I didn’t know they were related.

She was Andy’s Mum’s sister.

 

[toffee balls]

She was Andy’s Mum’s sister.

Obviously, that is no coincidence.
She was found on a very quiet lane between Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall.

Horrific for the Woodward family.

 

[Manchester33]

He was the cousin of another of the lovely Bennell family , Ronnie, who grew up on the Councillor Lane overspill estate in Cheadle , as did I.Ronnie murdered a girl in Burnage in the 70’s , served his time and then murdered another lady years later after several years of notoriety within the low life youth on our estate.
Thankfully, he hung himself in Prison.

.

 

[Wienerwald]

This was a very difficult watch last night - I then went onto watch the other episodes on iplayer.
It felt personal - not only because two City footballers who I idolised - Stewart & White had such horrendous backstories that they had to keep buried - but also because being a child in the NW around the same time - I knew full well the motivations of those children who had been manipulated to keep stum with the promise of playing for MCFC.

The cover-up & complicity to stay silent not only at the time (MCFC only too happy to move the problem on to Crewe) - but then subsequently with The FA, legal system & Police is truly shocking. I only hope the bravery of those who shared their awful stories will be the catalyst for it not happen again.

I'm proud of the way the present day Man City have faced this legacy - this sadly will be a small tip of a really putrid iceberg.
The circumstances that allowed this to happen in football - I fear mean there are many other stories waiting to be aired. BBC, Westminster, music industry, gymnastics, rugby - who knows where else.
I'm thankful I survived the 1970s/80s.

 

[standupifyouhatemanu]

A very hard watch, seeing grown men cry, as a victim myself of a now deceased bastard of an uncle I feel deeply for them...

 

[Tevez32mcfc]

I was friends with an ex footballer (didnt make it pro) who was coached by Bennell and he took his own life around 3 years ago. At the time i wasnt hugely aware of all the goings on as he never mentioned it and i actually thought how selfish he was to leave behind his wife and 2 kids. All dawned on me watching this programme last night. Horrific

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

I remember when my brother had been selected for the county & he was telling my dad that there’s a bloke who’s a weirdo & his job is to make sure all the kids are dry after the showers. You had to stand naked whilst he would then tell you that you could get dressed.
Me & my dad were laughing as it was all told jokingly & naively & that was how they got away with it. A few years later I was there & the bloke was there, nickname still attached, supplying fancy silk kits but just seen as weird.

Remember David White didn’t tell his dad & denied it to police when first asked, Bennell married one of his victims sister. I had a mate who went on trial at Barnsley came back a week later, weird, started smoking & drinking & seemed to have a break down before we lost touch.

These people moved in the shadows & knew the system & their protection was most people didn’t know that evil existed & would explain the behaviour as eccentric.

When you look back on the 70s and 80s it just seems such a strange period. Paedos were everywhere: in school, church, all sorts of positions of trust. In my school we used to laugh and joke about some of the teachers. People used to joke about "dirty old men." The culture was totally bizarre. I think this culture produced a lot of very damaged people and that may explain why there was so much random violence as well. Thankfully we seemed to have moved on a bit since those times. I thought the programme was excellent but also disturbing to watch.

 

[levets]

This was a very difficult watch last night - I then went onto watch the other episodes on iplayer.
It felt personal - not only because two City footballers who I idolised - Stewart & White had such horrendous backstories that they had to keep buried - but also because being a child in the NW around the same time - I knew full well the motivations of those children who had been manipulated to keep stum with the promise of playing for MCFC.

The cover-up & complicity to stay silent not only at the time (MCFC only too happy to move the problem on to Crewe) - but then subsequently with The FA, legal system & Police is truly shocking. I only hope the bravery of those who shared their awful stories will be the catalyst for it not happen again.

I'm proud of the way the present day Man City have faced this legacy - this sadly will be a small tip of a really putrid iceberg.
The circumstances that allowed this to happen in football - I fear mean there are many other stories waiting to be aired. BBC, Westminster, music industry, gymnastics, rugby - who knows where else.
I'm thankful I survived the 1970s/80s.

I watched the 2 follow up episodes as well. Harrowing to watch, seeing Paul Stewart in tears was upsetting, as was the story of Billy Seymour. Having experienced abuse myself in the 70s, but never told anyone until 2019, I understood their pain & anguish. My younger brother also played for White Hill and although he said never experienced any abuse, he said all the lads had suspicions and other teams used to call them names.