Barry Bennell: Young footballer turned back on career over abuse, court told

Eight men are suing Manchester City, asserting Barry Bennell was a scout for the club when he abused them

A schoolboy footballer turned his back on a "promising" career because he did not want to be around paedophile coach Barry Bennell, a judge has been told.

The man, who joined Crewe Alexandra as a teenager, told the High Court he left the club in his teens because he "just wanted to get away from Bennell".

"I could no longer go along with the abuse," he said.

He is one of eight men suing Manchester City over a claim Bennell was a club scout, which the club have denied.

Six of the men are also claiming damages for loss of potential football earnings.

Mr Justice Johnson has heard the men were sexually and emotionally abused by Bennell between 1979 and 1985 and were claiming damages after suffering psychiatric injuries.

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The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court that when he "turned 14, I felt that I had no option but to leave Crewe Alexandra and turn my back on a promising football career because I could no longer be around Bennell".

"I could no longer go along with the abuse," he said.

The man, who said he also had a trial at Southampton, added: "I just wanted to get away from Bennell."

Manchester City have denied Bennell was working for the club at the time of the abuse and have said that while he was a local scout in the mid-1970s, he did not hold the role between 1979 and 1985.

Bennell, now 67, who became a coach at Crewe in 1985, is serving a 34-year jail term after being convicted in 2018 and 2020 of more than 50 sexual offences against boys.

He had previously received jail sentences in relation to child abuse in the UK and in the US in 1995, 1998 and 2015.

Bennell is due to give evidence by video-link from prison.

The trial continues.

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