Barry Bennell: Crewe 'sacked coach after clash with parents'
- Published
Barry Bennell was found guilty in February of 43 charges of historical child sexual abuse
Convicted child abuser Barry Bennell was sacked as Crewe Alexandra's youth coach days after parents confronted him about his behaviour, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has been told.
One of Bennell's former players and his mother said rumours about the coach were widespread at the time he suddenly left the club.
It is understood Bennell took his family to the United States.
Crewe Alexandra has denied it was aware of Bennell's abuse.
When approached by the BBC, the club declined to comment on whether Bennell was sacked. It has previously said he left in January 1992 for football-related reasons.
Meanwhile, at a meeting of a fans' forum on Monday night, chairman John Bowler claimed the League Two club was being as "transparent" as possible about Bennell.
Earlier this month, Bennell was found guilty of 43 charges of historical child sexual abuse. His conviction was the first since allegations of sexual abuse in football began to surface in 2016.
Replaced days later
The former Crewe Alexandra youth team player said he was part of Bennell's youth squad in January 1992 when the coach suddenly left and was replaced days later by Steve Holland, now assistant manager with the England national team.
No explanation for the change was made at the time.
The player said he was not abused but wanted to remain anonymous to protect his family's privacy.
His mother, who has also been spoken to by the programme, said shortly before he left the club in January 1992, a group of parents tackled Bennell about his behaviour around young boys.
The player, now in his late 30s, said: "There was a group of parents who confronted Barry because there were rumours. One of the dads in the group had said that his son had gone to him and he'd been touching his son."
The parents threatened to report Bennell to the police, according to the player and his mother, who said they did not know if any concerns were raised with the club or then manager Dario Gradi. Shortly after the alleged encounter it is understood Bennell was sacked by Crewe Alexandra.
In May 1992, four months after Bennell left the club, Mr Gradi wrote to the player asking him to continue at Crewe's centre of excellence.
The letter, seen by the programme, said: "I do not want any of the boys who attended the centre to go to other coaching sessions or games organised by our former youth coach Barry Bennell. If this is going to cause you a problem then I will be pleased to talk to you about it personally."
It is understood that shortly after leaving the club, Bennell flew to Atlanta in the US where he ran a video rental store before returning to the UK.
Fans' questions
Crewe Alexandra declined to comment on the letter or the player's account.
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On Monday night senior officials at Crewe Alexandra met 250 fans for the first time since Bennell's conviction. Most journalists were barred from the event.
Chairman John Bowler was asked two questions about the scandal. One fan asked whether he thought the club's image had been damaged over the past weeks. He declined to add to the club's statement, because of what he called "an ongoing legal process", thought to refer to possible civil claims for damages.
At one point BBC commentator Graham McGarry asked about claims from Hamilton Smith - the club's then managing director - that he warned the board about Bennell. Again the chairman said he had no comment on that allegation.
In a statement, issued after Bennell's conviction on 15 February, Crewe Alexandra said it was not aware of any sexual abuse by Mr Bennell and did not receive a complaint about sexual abuse by him.
"The club wishes to make it absolutely clear that had it had any suspicion or belief that Mr Bennell was committing acts of abuse, either before, during or after he left the club's employment, the club would have informed the police immediately," it said.
Watch the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel.
- Published15 February 2018
