Former Liverpool star reveals torment over childhood abuse
Former Liverpool forward Paul Stewart's revealed his torment over his alleged childhood abuse - as calls grow for an inquiry into sex assaults within football.
Former Liverpool forward Paul Stewart's revealed his torment over his alleged childhood abuse - as calls grow for an inquiry into sex assaults within football.
Stewart first spoke out earlier this week
Since then, dozens of players have rung a special NSPCC helpline this week to report that they've also been victims.
Cheshire Police say they've received allegations of historical sexual abuse in the game, against more than one person.
Ex-England and Manchester City players David White and former Crewe Alexandra player Steve Walters have also spoken out about being sexually abused by football coaches as children.
More former players have come forward with revelations after Andy Woodward became the first to speak out publicly last week about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Barry Bennell, a former coach who sexually abused young boys across three decades from the 1970s onward.
Bennell, who worked for Crewe, Manchester City, Stoke and several junior teams in north-west England and the Midlands, was given a four-year sentence for raping a British boy on a football tour of Florida in 1994 and then a nine-year sentence for 23 offences against six boys in England in 1998.
He was jailed for a third time in 2015 when he pleaded guilty to abusing a boy at a football camp in Macclesfield in 1980. An allegation by an unnamed former Newcastle United player that he was abused in the club's youth system is also being investigated, Northumbria Police said.
The Guardian said the former player had contacted police to make allegations against George Ormond, a coach in the North East who was jailed for six years in 2002 for carrying out numerous assaults across a 24-year period.Mr Dunford, who said he had been staying at a Butlin's holiday camp after winning a football competition when Bennell attempted to touch him in bed, told BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "I believe there was a conspiracy and paedophile ring."
"There were people at those clubs who had a duty to look after boys coming through their system." "I think Savile looks like a choirboy compared to this fella."
Chris Unsworth, 44, a former Crewe youngster, has also made allegations against Bennell and claimed the club turned a blind eye to what was happening.
"It was swept under the carpet,'' he told the programme."
"It could have been prevented but way back then there were no laws, you just went with it."
"Everything we have been through has been brushed under the carpet and that is why we are here today. Hopefully others will come out and join us."
An NSPCC hotline, set up in response to the widening scandal, received 50 calls within its first two hours of being launched.
A statement released by Newcastle United said: "At this time, the only information we have is that which appeared in the Guardian newspaper."
"Clearly Newcastle United will co-operate fully with the police and relevant authorities and provide every assistance we can if or when the club receives further information.
"The club would encourage anyone with information about possible child abuse in our game to report their concerns to the police, the football authorities or the NSPCC.''
Crewe's director of football Dario Gradi expressed sympathy to the victims of Bennell in a statement, and said the club would be carrying out an internal investigation.
A spokesman for Crewe said the club would not be making any further comment.