Paul Stewart - abused by football coach

[HolyHank]

Paul Stewart is looked upon as somewhat a symbol for Souness' bad management, but good heavens, this was a tough read.

 

It's starting to look as football was just as bad as the catholic church when it comes to sexual abuse, doesn't it? 

 

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/ex-liverpool-fc-player-paul-12216103

 

[Dr Nowt]

This is the third such article I've read in the past week, after two by Daniel Taylor in The Guardian. Gut-wrenching stuff.

 

Won't mention who I think the article is referring to when saying there are fears a respected manager may be implicated, but I wonder if there was a clue in the Steve Walters article.

 

Hope not.

[torahboy]

I watched him play for us and I always thought he wanted fucking. Never thought he already had been. Shocking stuff.

[HolyHank]

He also says he used cocaine daily while playing for us. Can understand why, after reading his life story:

 

“Playing alongside Gascoigne, Waddle, Rush, Barnes; to be on the same pitch, that is what I set out to do as a young player. I still have some fond memories, I just know the abuse affected my life. I thought about suicide constantly, even at the pinnacle of my career. I thought I was upsetting my family, I thought it would be better if I was not around. The only way I could handle it was to get drunk or get high. I would go on a bender and lose days at a time.”

[TheHowieLama]

Notice you mention the Church -- any connection Holy?

[HolyHank]

No, not at all. Just a silly nick. I was just thinking of the big scandal of the catholic church and paedo priests. Now it looks like something similar has been round in football.

 

But actually, it should not come as a surprise. Molesters are looking for environments where they have access to children, like in sports, schools, churches, and so on

[TheHowieLama]

Hmmm - likely - 10 years of laying low then this --- I've got my eye on you.

[aRdja]

Fucking hell. Poor lad. That was a horrible read.

[Bob]

Tough to read, and with everything that's come out in the last 5, 10 or more years, I guess it's no surprise that predatory paedophiles would operate in football - an environment that brings you close to kids from vulnerable backgrounds.

 

You wouldn't be surprised if floodgates opened, and in a way you hope they do if there are many offenders out there.

 

The comment about having watched spotlight struck me though, just trying to get my head around how you could watch such a film having lived through the abuse.

[Iceman]

.

[Chairman Meow]

You wouldn't be surprised if floodgates opened, and in a way you hope they do if there are many offenders out there.

 

The comment about having watched spotlight struck me though, just trying to get my head around how you could watch such a film having lived through the abuse.

 

I read something a while ago, the average time span before a male who has been abused or raped actually tells someone is around 16 years. 

 

The same as with rape it does some pretty complex mental damage and people really struggle to even admit it's happened to people they know let alone go further with it.

 

Hence cases like Saville etc. where years later once one person comes out suddenly loads of people open up about it. Which then tends to lead to a load of the shit about "why didn't they say something sooner" which in itself doesn't help as it all adds to the shame and guilt they feel already.

 

Statistically most people are abused by someone they already know, if you have a child and they are abused the reality is it's either going to be done by you, a member of your family, a friend of the family or a teacher etc. not some stranger loitering in a park. 

 

The reality here though is just like when it was brought up with the church, politicians etc. it will ultimately be swept under the carpet, maybe a couple of scape goats will be held up for sacrifice and fuck all meaningful will be done. 

[Dr Nowt]

The sport where nobody dares admit they're gay because of the reaction.

 

Can't imagine why none of the poor souls who were abused didn't speak out at the time, like.

[Denny Crane]

There is an old Dispatches documentary that i saw a few years back. It was originally recorded in the late 90s.

 

The documentary basically highlights that scout and exposes what and how it happened. Football is representative of society so sadly no big surprises.

 

Here is an old article.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/boy-soccer-players-being-put-at-risk-1284592.html

[ZonkoVille77]

Sickening, but not surprising. Paedos are always likely to target where large numbers of children are gathered.

Just have to hope that those committing the crime get caught.

[plazzy]

Poor fucker - horrific stuff

[Boss]

One thing i cannot get my head around (in such cases) is how parents don't believe their own child. 

[Trumo]

It could be a case of people not wanting to believe such a thing is possible by somebody they've been made to feel they can trust. Nobody deserves to be subjected to things like this.

[thegreatelephant]

One thing i cannot get my head around (in such cases) is how parents don't believe their own child. 

not casting any aspersions here at all but there will be some parents who unfortunately have their eyes only on the pound signs, regardless.

[chris71]

One thing i cannot get my head around (in such cases) is how parents don't believe their own child.

You'd be well surprised. In my school there was a dodgy teacher who was getting kids into his office to do all sorts. It was going on for years, when somebody was brave enough to speak out some of the parents were still saying"oh,but he's a great teacher and you can't believe what children say".

[The Golden Eel]

You'd be well surprised. In my school there was a dodgy teacher who was getting kids into his office to do all sorts. It was going on for years, when somebody was brave enough to speak out some of the parents were still saying"oh,but he's a great teacher and you can't believe what children say".

 

This will be especially true when there's some sort of religious angle too.

[chris71]

Without doubt.

[M_B]

Poor guy. Thats an awful read.

[Paulie Dangerously]

Was this all going on at Crewe during Gradi's reign?

[Harry Squatter]

No wonder he wasn't that good for us. The drink and drug taking prior to joining us plus the psychological damage everything involved with the abuse has taken on him. Always wondered why he wasn't as good here as when he played for Tottenham. I thought he was a decent player at Spurs but he just didn't show anything here what he had been capable of previously.

 

I can remember being in the Centenary stand and we were playing some mid table club. Some fella was slagging him off the whole game then he came over to take a throw in. This fella had a go at him shouting "i hate you, you fat fucking Manc. You're fucking shite".

 

He didn't react but just put his head down trying not to make eye contact with him and took the throw. This fella seemed quite pleased with himself even after a few people had told him to shut up. I hope he's read that article today.

[Mook]

The 70s & 80s must have been great for fucking nonces, I was just reading about this cunt at Crewe, he had a house where loads of the boys would come round to stay with a pet monkey, pool tables & arcade machines.

 

Can you imagine that now? The paedo-meter would be off the scale.

 

This bloke (Barry Bennell) is currently out of jail with an assumed name, a guy who the US authorities have described as having 'an insatiable appetite for young boys'. Absolutely unbelievable.