This makes for utterly grim reading (Barry Bennell and Gary Speed)

[LondonBristolian]

We'll obviously never ever know if there was a connection.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/17/gary-speed-one-of-four-players-coached-by-barry-bennell-to-have-killed-themselves

 

[Bristol Rob]

Read that earlier, truly awful.

[PHILINFRANCE]

20 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

We'll obviously never ever know if there was a connection.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/17/gary-speed-one-of-four-players-coached-by-barry-bennell-to-have-killed-themselves

 

How awful.

You may recall that, in the (social) media following his death, there was some speculation that Gary Speed's suicide was in some way related to the imminent release of some story concerning a paedophile 'sex scandal' in which he (GS) was the perpetrator rather than the victim - I believe it was suggested the late and charming Max Hastings was involved in trying to cover up the alleged offences.

As an aside, I note from the article that Dario Gradi remains suspended following accusations made relating to the time when he was involved with both Chelsea and Crewe, the Dario Gradi (ex-Crewe manager) who was instrumental in producing such players as David Platt, Rob Savage, Danny Murphy and even our own Nicky Maynard!

[Judda]

Read the first sentence and had to stop. Sickening. 

[BigAl&Toby]

Sadly this is more common than any of us would imagine.

As a child growing up in BS16 there was a man who lived with his mother. He was employed by the council and worked at the local park and at a nearby pitch and putt.

He was also closely involved in the running of a youth football league. Worse than that he was a local fund raising coordinator for none other than the NSPCC.

Rumours were rife but nothing was done until many years later when the bastard was convicted.

I remember to this day - 35 years on - how he used to invite younger boys behind the counter in the pavilion to help him put the kettle on. Or how he showed me and my brother photos of under privileged children whilst in the presence of our mother before he left the paper-machie moneybox for our pocket money donations.....

Luckily that was as far as it went. We were lucky.

[Davefevs]

I know of one ex-pro who took his own life (not Speed) a few years back.  I know someone who went to school with this ex-pro and when this Bennall scandal (apologies if this is a poor word) came out, the first thing they said was they were pretty sure they’d been "messed with" at school.  I’ve no idea if the ex-pro had been under Bennall or any of the others, but can only imagine what scars it might leave.

[ScottishRed]

There are increasingly more times when I see something on TV news, or hear on radio, or read, and think WTF is this world coming to.

It is hugely depressing to think that some adults get involved in youth sport with an ulterior and sordid motive.

[ZiderEyed]

******* sickening. Can't even read it.

[RaspberryRed]

1 hour ago, BigAlToby&Liam said:

Sadly this is more common than any of us would imagine.

As a child growing up in BS16 there was a man who lived with his mother. He was employed by the council and worked at the local park and at a nearby pitch and putt.

He was also closely involved in the running of a youth football league. Worse than that he was a local fund raising coordinator for none other than the NSPCC.

Rumours were rife but nothing was done until many years later when the bastard was convicted.

I remember to this day - 35 years on - how he used to invite younger boys behind the counter in the pavilion to help him put the kettle on. Or how he showed me and my brother photos of under privileged children whilst in the presence of our mother before he left the paper-machie moneybox for our pocket money donations.....

Luckily that was as far as it went. We were lucky.

WOW that hit home very hard reading that. A family friend who passed last year was instrumental in persuing/leading the fight for a conviction and in the end he got his. A big shame that by the time he'd had access to 100's if not 1000's of young, vunerable kids. As far as I know myself, Brother and Friends we're lucky but that's a massive assumption as you never know what people carry

The 'whole' Gary Speed story is absolutely devastating

[Oops]

2 hours ago, BigAlToby&Liam said:

Sadly this is more common than any of us would imagine.

As a child growing up in BS16 there was a man who lived with his mother. He was employed by the council and worked at the local park and at a nearby pitch and putt.

He was also closely involved in the running of a youth football league. Worse than that he was a local fund raising coordinator for none other than the NSPCC.

Rumours were rife but nothing was done until many years later when the bastard was convicted.

I remember to this day - 35 years on - how he used to invite younger boys behind the counter in the pavilion to help him put the kettle on. Or how he showed me and my brother photos of under privileged children whilst in the presence of our mother before he left the paper-machie moneybox for our pocket money donations.....

Luckily that was as far as it went. We were lucky.

I knew the scumbag you’re referring to BigAl. My Dad knocked his front teeth out in about ‘83.  Used to ride a Vespa if memory serves?

[Lanterne Rouge]

It is surprising how these awful things can just go unnoticed at the time. A few years ago my former scoutmaster was convicted for abusing boys under his supervision (it was physical abuse rather than sexual - not that that makes it any better) and I can honestly swear that nether I nor any of my friends ever had anything happen to us or even suspected anything. Whether we were some of the more `streetwise` ones and he avoided trying anything on with us and picked on those more vulnerable, who knows?

[clunes]

I played one match u13’s for a team this bloke was managing. My mum found out about him and I was never allowed to go back again. Was just told he was a bad person. Lived at the bottom of Cleeve Hill if memory serves... I assume he’s dead now? Anyone know if he ever served any time?

[Tipps69]

There is no punishment of Bennell that will make his crimes bearable to his victims & their nearest & dearest but one things for sure, time behind bars isn’t anywhere near a harsh enough punishment, he will get put in a prison or secure unit solely for nonces!! The punishment doesn’t match the crime!! Possibly thousands of lives ruined by this scumbag & yet there are still those that believe that the death penalty shouldn’t be brought back!!

Sorry but sick bastards like this scumbag don’t deserve to live rent free & to have a bed & food supplied to them!!

[BigAl&Toby]

11 hours ago, Oops said:

I knew the scumbag you’re referring to BigAl. My Dad knocked his front teeth out in about ‘83.  Used to ride a Vespa if memory serves?

That’s the bastard. 

How he was ever able to be so closely involved with organisations so intrinsically linked to children - and the NSPCC for ***** sake - will always be a mystery.

Thankfully now we have levels of checking that should prevent this but why on earth didn’t adult common sense step in then?

The bastard still haunts me after nearly 40 years.

[BigAl&Toby]

11 hours ago, clunes said:

I played one match u13’s for a team this bloke was managing. My mum found out about him and I was never allowed to go back again. Was just told he was a bad person. Lived at the bottom of Cleeve Hill if memory serves... I assume he’s dead now? Anyone know if he ever served any time?

Bromley Heath Road. Almost by the junction with Cleeve Hill.

I believe he was eventually tried and convicted - many years on. Was in the Evening Post I think at the time.

Its in the public domain if you search for it.

Whether he’s dead or not I don’t know. Reckon he’d be in his 80s now so possibly not.

[PHILINFRANCE]

15 hours ago, BigAlToby&Liam said:

Sadly this is more common than any of us would imagine.

As a child growing up in BS16 there was a man (Monty) who lived with his mother (a lovely, very kind lady - I often wondered whether she was aware of what her son was up to). He was employed by the council and worked at the local park and at a nearby pitch and putt.

He was also closely involved in the running of a youth football league (Bath and District - with hindsight, I have sometimes wondered why he was unable to attach himself to a more local league - was it because, in those pre-internet days, his reputation had not yet reached Bath? He was also instrumental in founding a boys team (Blackhorse Boys) and was secretary for a men's football team, Downend Enterprise, who played in Bromley Heath Park, where local boys, myself included, would help him put up the nets on Saturday mornings). Worse than that he was a local fund raising coordinator for none other than the NSPCC (League of Pity). He also used to provide projector film shows for children's parties - just imagine; dimmed lights, parents sometimes out of the room....

As @Oops mentioned earlier, he used to ride a Vespa, and I cannot be the only young boy who was invited to join him on one of his annual trips to the Isle of Man TT Races.

Rumours were rife but nothing was done until many years later when the bastard was convicted.

I remember to this day - 35 years on - how he used to invite younger boys behind the counter in the pavilion to help him put the kettle on (Bromley Heath pavilion?). Or how he showed me and my brother photos of under privileged children whilst in the presence of our mother before he left the paper-machie moneybox for our pocket money donations.....

Luckily that was as far as it went. We were lucky.

As you can see, I remember him well.

 

12 hours ago, clunes said:

I played one match u13’s for a team this bloke was managing. (I played for his teams for many years - some wonderful Sunday afternoon memories). My mum found out about him and I was never allowed to go back again. Was just told he was a bad person. Lived at the bottom of Cleeve Hill if memory serves... I assume he’s dead now? Anyone know if he ever served any time?

 

[cidered abroad]

Many years ago when i was about 23, a work colleague who lived on a large council estate, jokingly said "it's incest that keeps the family together". I didn't really understand what he meant.

The next year I met a young woman from that estate and we married a year later. After the death of her father around twenty years later, some of her siblings began talking about abuse from both parents, sexual, physical and emotional. Ten years later, my wife took her own life after two previous unsuccessful attempts.

Those who have never been abused can never fully understand the gravity of it for the recipient. I certainly didn't until her final act.

All of which proves that for those who are abused as children, even with lots of counselling, are, in many cases, unable to put such events in the past.

[PHILINFRANCE]

Some words by Nick Tanner, ex-Rovers.

Just a few pages, but quite interesting reading if you were around at the time.

https://books.google.fr/books?id=PQM2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT21&lpg=PT21&dq=dave+lawrence+bromley+heath&source=bl&ots=jz3J3cjAo6&sig=maFlrFjthvQqlTsZ2bn0oehIcxk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMneOmruHYAhWpDsAKHcyzDF0Q6AEIMTAC#v=onepage&q=dave lawrence bromley heath&f=false

I am not too skilled at providing links, so you may have to copy, paste and open up the article in Google.

[1bristolcity]

Sordid isn't it? Allow me to add a a recollection back in the early 60's. I was a very keen young footballer, and used to kick a ball around every Sunday mornings at the old Whitchurch playing fields. Me and my footballing mates thought we should form a team, and so we did, and applied to the Under 12's I think it was, Church Of England Association for membership. I was adopted as to be the kid who had to attend the meeting at Colston Street HQ to apply to be considered for election to the league.

After the meeting I was offered a lift back home by a certain Keith S, I won't divulge his full name, he was the Sec at the time of this outfit, and got in his car. Before he started the engine he produced some pictures, of adult men with young boys, you can imagine the content!!! I made a hasty retreat and must have ran all the way home to Brislington.  I told my parents although I was extremely embarrassed but they didn't take it further. In those days it was very much 'what would the neighbour's think' attitude  

How I and others survived Sunday School, Cub's Scouts is anyone's guess, perhaps some never did, and to this day are bottling it up, as did the likes of Gary Speed and others, they probably feel a huge sense of guilt, for no reason other than they were the victims of such evil men. 

I believe we have come a long way forward from those days, but still we need to stand up and speak out, and thank God we are, the women are doing so, at last, and we should all do so.

Turning a blind eye is never the answer.

This I fear is just the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks for those on here that are shining a light on the problem, it really is a special place OTIB, 

[poland_exile]

makes my blood boil. feel desperately sorry for all the people who've had their lives wrecked and hijacked by monsters like this. frankly, in cases like this i'd fully applaud any vigilante justice that came his way. 

[downendcity]

Reading these stories does make my blood boil, but at least these stories are now coming out into the open so that the perpetuators can be properly punished. It seems to me (sadly) that so many of the victims have actually felt guilty about what happened to them, which is terrible in itself, and that guilt probably made them fearful of telling anyone what had happened so allowing these men to continue their evil ways. While it can't erase their memories of what happened, seeing men like Benall being brought to book can hopefully remove the stigma and help them move on in their lives.

In addition to thinking about the effect on the victims,  I cannot but think about all the genuine, well meaning men ( and women) who are prepared to give their time to help children and youngster but who are now find themselves  regarded with suspicion because of the actions of men like Bennall, and many others over the years and wonder if many people are discouraged from getting involved for the very reason.

 

[BigAl&Toby]

2 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

As you can see, I remember him well.

 

 

The League of Pity. I’d forgotten that. The irony.

If I remember rightly there used to be an annual awards ceremony for the child who’d collected the most. As you say @PHILINFRANCE a film was always shown. From memory in the Hall by the Sandringham.

Never met his mother but you may well be right. If she didn’t have her suspicions though she must have been amongst the few adults in the area who didn’t.

How even then it was allowed to happen still haunts me. As I said we were lucky but given his conviction in July 1999 there were some who weren’t.

Monty was the bastard’s nickname. His “palace” was indeed where he worked.

His name, as can easily be found on the internet is David Lawrence. 60 in 1999 so I’d guess he may well still be alive.

Having children of your own changes your perspective enormously. If I had my time again I’d have done everything I could to have exposed him then.

[bh_red]

Got as far as VESPA and thought....I know this bloke, never coached by him but was WELL aware of the rumours about him in late 80's early 90's....ran a shop in Barton Hill which regularly had young boys working in, I know of at least one lad who I went to school with who was from a broken home and had "problems" with him, has made me think ever since was he specifically based in a poorer area of Bristol who there is "easier targets"

Eventually one day his shop was randomly firebombed and he was never seen again.

see below link....got away with it for YEARS, the article here suggests he took away around 300 boys.  it's just terrifying.

The FA knew and frankly, didn't care.

I really do hope he's dead and died a painful horrible death.

 

[PHILINFRANCE]

6 minutes ago, BigAlToby&Liam said:

The League of Pity. I’d forgotten that. The irony.

If I remember rightly there used to be an annual awards ceremony for the child who’d collected the most. As you say @PHILINFRANCE a film was always shown. From memory in the Hall by the Sandringham.

Never met his mother but you may well be right. If she didn’t have her suspicions though she must have been amongst the few adults in the area who didn’t.

How even then it was allowed to happen still haunts me. As I said we were lucky but given his conviction in July 1999 there were some who weren’t.

Monty was the bastard’s nickname. His “palace” was indeed where he worked.

His name, as can easily be found on the internet is David Lawrence. 60 in 1999 so I’d guess he may well still be alive.

Having children of your own changes your perspective enormously. If I had my time again I’d have done everything I could to have exposed him then.

The film shows were mainly in private houses, for children's birthday parties and the like.

Local parents, some quite prominent and even local counsellors, were only too pleased to invite him into their homes.  

[cidered abroad]

The world we live in has changed dramatically since I was born in 1943.

Children and adults subjected to any form of sexual abuse. 

Men continually beating up their wives, partners girl friends and their children.

Overt racism, anti-semitism and religious intolerance.

We have come a long way but still nowhere near far enough. Too many victims are still too afraid to make a complaint,thinking they will not be believed. 

But there is hope if Alec Eisentrager at City and Bert Trautmann at Man City were welcomed and indeed idolised by the fans back in 1949, just four years after the worst war in the Earth's history.

Please be vigilant and never afraid to come forward with information that may be the end for another perpetrator.

[PHILINFRANCE]

30 minutes ago, cidered abroad said:

The world we live in has changed dramatically since I was born in 1943.

Children and adults subjected to any form of sexual abuse. 

Men continually beating up their wives, partners girl friends and their children.

Overt racism, anti-semitism and religious intolerance.

We have come a long way but still nowhere near far enough. Too many victims are still too afraid to make a complaint,thinking they will not be believed. 

But there is hope if Alec Eisentrager at City and Bert Trautmann at Man City were welcomed and indeed idolised by the fans back in 1949, just four years after the worst war in the Earth's history.

Please be vigilant and never afraid to come forward with information that may be the end for another perpetrator.

The world has indeed changed since you were born, and I was horrified to read your account of your first wife's childhood and later suicide.

The Sixties (the period to which you refer in your earlier post) were, of course, the start of a whole new world, and I hope we have progressed.

I believe we attended the same school, and we possibly share memories of the School Sergeant and his stick Bessie - or did you leave just before he joined?

Whatever, there remain conflicting views as to whether sticks like Bessie helped or hindered progress - spare the rod, spoil the child.

  

   

[cidered abroad]

1 hour ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

The world has indeed changed since you were born, and I was horrified to read your account of your first wife's childhood and later suicide.

The Sixties (the period to which you refer in your earlier post) were, of course, the start of a whole new world, and I hope we have progressed.

I believe we attended the same school, and we possibly share memories of the School Sergeant and his stick Bessie - or did you leave just before he joined?

Whatever, there remain conflicting views as to whether sticks like Bessie helped or hindered progress - spare the rod, spoil the child.

  

   

The sergeant when I was there from 1950 to 1960 was Sgt Middlecote. I also fancied his granddaughter who lived near me in North Bristol but she didn't have any interest in me and instead tried to fix me up with her elder sister!

On the other subject, another factor in her depression was the fact that she had two children by the same father. But as he or her parents wouldn't help, and no social security to assist,  as an unmarried mother she was treated like an imbecile and forced to give up the second child for adoption. 

That haunted her for the rest of her life. I doubt very much that anyone born since 1970 could even begin to get their head round how things have changed since the Sixties. All of this is in the past and it doesn't hurt now. I am just sad that a lovely person was so unhappy, mostly invisibly to others. 

I'll finish on another topic of change. When I married in 1969, my wife's earnings were not taken into account by the mortgage company and neither was she the joint owner. A woman was still at that time rated the same as goods or chattels. Aren't you modern ladies pleased that some progress has been made?