Barry Bennell pleads guilty

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:43 am

Former football coach Barry Bennell has pleaded guilty to six counts of child abuse offences at Liverpool Crown Court

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:58 pm

https://news.sky.com/story/gary-speed-a ... e-11211331" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Four men who were coached by Bennell as youngsters have taken their own lives.

Gary Speed was one them its been announced in court.
There's no confirmed connection due to lack of any explanation as to why Speed took his own life but..

ŽižkovClaret · Post by **ŽižkovClaret** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:26 pm

Tour of the 92 football league clubs being pelted in the balls by beanbag rounds would be nice

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:39 pm

What were authorities or just 'adults' in general actually doing in the 80's?

Seems like tossers like Bennell and half the entertainment business at the time could go around doing what the **** they liked.

joey13 · Post by **joey13** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:42 pm

Disgusting individual, prison too good for **** like him

Lord Beamish · Post by **Lord Beamish** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:42 pm

Diesel wrote:What were authorities or just 'adults' in general actually doing in the 80's?

It seems like a significant proportion of them were systematically f ucking children.

turfytopper · Post by **turfytopper** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 7:56 pm

Sidney1st wrote:https://news.sky.com/story/gary-speed-a ... e-11211331

Four men who were coached by Bennell as youngsters have taken their own lives.

Gary Speed was one them its been announced in court.
There's no confirmed connection due to lack of any explanation as to why Speed took his own life but..

I really have deepest sympathy for the families of those 4 men. I've met Gary Speed's sister Helen, she's a beautiful person. If it hasn't already been bad enough, the thought that Bennell had any contact with their loved ones must make it unbearable.

Vino blanco · Post by **Vino blanco** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 8:11 pm

Build his gallows high.

Bordeauxclaret · Post by **Bordeauxclaret** » Wed Jan 17, 2018 8:11 pm

Diesel wrote:What were authorities or just 'adults' in general actually doing in the 80's?

Seems like tossers like Bennell and half the entertainment business at the time could go around doing what the **** they liked.

I fail to believe there was not a significant amount of people who knew what was going on and looked the other way. Or worse thought it was acceptable.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Feb 13, 2018 4:09 pm

Found guilty of multiple sex abuse offences against boys

Thejkr · Post by **Thejkr** » Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:43 pm

Dario Gradi always got real abuse when.we visited Crewe in the 80s from what I remember. Did Burnley.fans know what.was.happening back then?

TheFamilyCat · Post by **TheFamilyCat** » Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:57 pm

Bordeauxclaret wrote:I fail to believe there was not a significant amount of people who knew what was going on and looked the other way. Or worse thought it was acceptable.

Some folk, including posters on here would have you believe that it's just "how it was" back then and we're all a bit soft thinking there's anything wrong with it now.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:32 am

Thejkr wrote:Dario Gradi always got real abuse when.we visited Crewe in the 80s from what I remember. Did Burnley.fans know what.was.happening back then?

I went to a meeting at Crewe in around 1988 at which Dario Gradi was speaking. I always remember him saying that they had to try and get ahead of the game over the bigger clubs in terms of getting young players into the club. He quoted one example where they had a young lad from North Wales. His parents chose Crewe ahead of Arsenal. They thought he was better looked after at Crewe because he was allowed to stay at the manager's house. No one thought any more about it, and Danny Murphy has said recently that he stayed at Gradi's house and nothing happened that shouldn't have done. But some of the other kids stayed at Bennell's house and what happened there was appalling.

Bennell also worked for Manchester City and they quickly put out a statement yesterday - Crewe, as expected, ignored everything. They've done their level best to bury their heads in the sand throughout the whole process. As for Gradi, who is not guilty of anything, he's still a director at Crewe as well as being their director of football. Gradi was suspended early last year by the FA. I can only assume that suspension has now been lifted.

JohnMac · Post by **JohnMac** » Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:00 pm

The sexual predatory nature of people in positions of authority in this country knows no bounds.

The problem needs looking at but the solution is almost impossible given it needs 'people in authority' to implement things.

ŽižkovClaret · Post by **ŽižkovClaret** » Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:17 pm

Jury just found him guilty of 4 remaining charges.

Good

UpTheBeehole · Post by **UpTheBeehole** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:35 am

There's a Guardian story about a talented young footballer called Mark Hazeldine, who changed hugely after going on a holiday alone with Barry Bennell. Mentions our Orient game as Hazeldine was involved with us at the time.

Tragic story.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ed-himself

Pimlico_Claret · Post by **Pimlico_Claret** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:47 am

Difficult read that. Whether Bennell was responsible in any way in this case, for what he has been convicted of, he should get a similar sentence to the American gymnastics coach. Oh wait, it's England, it will be the bare minimum. Disgusting pervert.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:57 am

What's truly horrific is people were aware something wasn't right and nothing was done.

Same with the BBC and Saville.

Cheers for posting the article, it's painful reading but needs to be seen.

cricketfieldclarets · Post by **cricketfieldclarets** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:30 pm

Horrific. The people who turned a blind eye are as bad!

Also mentions Paul Stewart (another who played for us) was a victim of similar. A player vilified on here for how bad he was for us despite his talent. Perhaps that explains a lot. He should be credited for having the career he did with the torment he probably suffered even in adulthood. Not remembered as a supposedly terrible player for us. Shows, you never know what people are feeling or thinking.

dushanbe · Post by **dushanbe** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:50 pm

Just been a phone caller on radio 2 who said that players who had been coached by Bennell were known as 'Bennells bum boys' in the playground and around mates. There is no way that people who could have stopped this didn't know about it.

UpTheBeehole · Post by **UpTheBeehole** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:27 pm

Micky Fallon's story:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... cky-fallon

mkmel · Post by **mkmel** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:27 pm

Sidney1st wrote:What's truly horrific is people were aware something wasn't right and nothing was done.

Same with the BBC and Saville.

Cheers for posting the article, it's painful reading but needs to be seen.

You mention Jimmy Saville well a couple of years ago I got talking to a lady who was a junior nurse many years ago at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

And she said it was common knowledge about what Jimmy Saville got up to in the mortuary and maybe other things he did there.

But everyone turned a blind eye and said and did nothing

Funkydrummer · Post by **Funkydrummer** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:43 pm

Effing mortuary !!!!!!!!!! Hell's bells.

mdd2 · Post by **mdd2** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:57 pm

I watched the programme last night and there was a quite remarkable statistic-men sexually abused as children are on average unlikely to divulge their story of abuse until in their 40's. Terrible terrible damage done to many who in all probability never ever get over it and for many clearly messes them up forever. In fact I think I am correct in that one of the abused had never ever spoken to anyone about it until 2016 and then only to the person who had been abused alongside of him.
For anyone who cannot understand the silence of the abused I can recommend last night's programme but make sure you have plenty of paper hankies available as it is unbelievably sad.

Shore claret · Post by **Shore claret** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 3:07 pm

Bennell should be made to watch the programme on repeat for the rest of his natural life.

randomclaret2 · Post by **randomclaret2** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:15 pm

The BBC always used to have an almost bizarre fixation with Crewe at one time...always trumpeting their wonderful youth set up fir some reason.

cricketfieldclarets · Post by **cricketfieldclarets** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:45 pm

Shore claret wrote:Bennell should be made to watch the programme on repeat for the rest of his natural life.

Would turn the sick ****** on!

IanMcL · Post by **IanMcL** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:48 pm

So sad. What an evil person. Everyone else seeing no evil.

dushanbe · Post by **dushanbe** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:52 pm

Theres a short story written by Irvine Welsh, part of the Ecstasy trilogy called Lorraine goes to Livingston. It features a character called Freddy Royle, a necrophiliac who pays off the porters in the local hospital mortuary to allow him access. I read it back in 1997 and said at the time that the character of Royle seemed to remind me of Savile - one passage reads,

'The thing was, Freddy brought millions of pounds into the place with his fund-raising activities. This brought kudos to the trustees, and made St Hubbin’s Hospital a flagship for the arm’s-length trusts from the NHS. All they had to do was keep schtumm and indulge Sir Freddy with the odd body'

There are all sorts of suspicions that people knew exactly what was going on and for some reason said nothing. The Smiths song, Panic is even said in some quarters to have been about Savile and when you look at the lyrics and symbolism of the video, it could be...

On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down
The provincial towns you jog 'round
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ

Equally it could just be people being wise after the effect.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:00 pm

I've moved everything into the one thread on the Bennell topic.

Re: Hazeldine - not a player I've ever heard of. If he was at Burnley then I'm sure he didn't make the reserves.

conyoviejo · Post by **conyoviejo** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:12 pm

ClaretTony wrote:I've moved everything into the one thread on the Bennell topic.

Re: Hazeldine - not a player I've ever heard of. If he was at Burnley then I'm sure he didn't make the reserves.

Quote
"At 16, Mark signed for Burnley in the old Fourth Division and within a year the teenager – two-footed, strong in the tackle, capable of playing in midfield or defence – was in their first-team squad. He was there when they famously beat Leyton Orient to avoid dropping out of the Football League on the final day of the 1986-87 season and the following year he was at Wembley when they played Wolves in front of 80,000 people in the Sherpa Van Final."

I can't remember him either..

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:15 pm

conyoviejo wrote:I can't remember him either..

The name doesn't mean anything to me. I've texted a couple of people who were at the club at the time to see whether they have heard of him.

mdd2 · Post by **mdd2** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:51 pm

The TV suggested that he had a career ending knee or leg injury shortly after joining and had to retire.
Copied and pasted this.Mark was born in 1970 and took his own life in 2006

At 16, Mark signed for Burnley in the old Fourth Division and within a year the teenager – two-footed, strong in the tackle, capable of playing in midfield or defence – was in their first-team squad. He was there when they famously beat Leyton Orient to avoid dropping out of the Football League on the final day of the 1986-87 season and the following year he was at Wembley when they played Wolves in front of 80,000 people in the Sherpa Van Final.

Then, one Sunday afternoon, he had a kick-around with his mates at a park in Ashton, landed awkwardly trying an overhead kick and limped home, not realising he had ruptured the cruciate ligament in a knee. Mark had already had his knee cartilage removed, keeping it in a jar by the side of his bed. In total, he had 10 operations until, finally, at the age of 19, he was given the news he had been dreading. His career was over before it had really begun.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 8:45 am

Hazeldine was at Burnley, had it confirmed by someone who was there at the same time. He was 16 at the time. He wasn't though, as the report suggests, in the first team squad as we all probably knew.

What happened to him prior to that with Bennell was appalling, as it was for all the other lads involved with that monster. And very sad to hear that he'd taken his own life, for whatever reason.

Rick_Muller · Post by **Rick_Muller** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:06 pm

mdd2 wrote:I watched the programme last night and there was a quite remarkable statistic-men sexually abused as children are on average unlikely to divulge their story of abuse until in their 40's. Terrible terrible damage done to many who in all probability never ever get over it and for many clearly messes them up forever. In fact I think I am correct in that one of the abused had never ever spoken to anyone about it until 2016 and then only to the person who had been abused alongside of him.
For anyone who cannot understand the silence of the abused I can recommend last night's programme but make sure you have plenty of paper hankies available as it is unbelievably sad.

What was the programme mdd2? I would like to watch that, and perhaps it’s on catch up, thanks

Bfcboyo · Post by **Bfcboyo** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:13 pm

And in this modern pc metropolis where we are all so civilised would it not be nice to see the rechid beast hung, drawn and quatered.

yTib · Post by **yTib** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:04 pm

31 years.

hopefully he'll never see the light of day again.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:08 pm

Barry Bennell branded 'sheer evil' as he is sentenced to 31 years, although it's only 15 years locked up.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... o-31-years" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ashingtonclaret46 · Post by **Ashingtonclaret46** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:11 pm

Bennell is getting his just desserts, however, I am very sure that this is only the tip of what could be quite a big iceberg.
I understand that there are investigations still going on in various places, how much will come to light will be open to conjecture and could well depend on other victims having the courage to come forward.

Herts Clarets · Post by **Herts Clarets** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:14 pm

dushanbe wrote:Theres a short story written by Irvine Welsh, part of the Ecstasy trilogy called Lorraine goes to Livingston. It features a character called Freddy Royle, a necrophiliac who pays off the porters in the local hospital mortuary to allow him access. I read it back in 1997 and said at the time that the character of Royle seemed to remind me of Savile - one passage reads,

'The thing was, Freddy brought millions of pounds into the place with his fund-raising activities. This brought kudos to the trustees, and made St Hubbin’s Hospital a flagship for the arm’s-length trusts from the NHS. All they had to do was keep schtumm and indulge Sir Freddy with the odd body'

There are all sorts of suspicions that people knew exactly what was going on and for some reason said nothing. The Smiths song, Panic is even said in some quarters to have been about Savile and when you look at the lyrics and symbolism of the video, it could be...

On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down
The provincial towns you jog 'round
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ

Equally it could just be people being wise after the effect.

I think it could have been on the previous site but at the time some of the Savile stuff was coming out, a poster said there is far worse to come, including that of Savile having access to the mortuary. I think the posters wife had been a trainee nurse in Leeds when Savile was at large. As with many others, she was afraid of the consequences if she raised concerns about a famous fund raiser.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 11:02 am

Finally Bennell is behind bars and hopefully will never be released as long as he lives.

A great debt of gratitude is owed to Andy Woodward and all those who finally spoke out. I can't even begin to put myself in their shoes but it has to have been a massive ordeal for them to finally let the world know what this evil man had done to them. Whilst Bennell is behind bars, I can only hope that all of them get find some strength from all this to make their lives better.

Now, let's hope those responsible for dealing with this can get all those others who knew what Bennell, and others, were doing, because they are no better than he is.

And it has to start at this football club.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... Crewe.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Funkydrummer · Post by **Funkydrummer** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 11:17 am

Hopefully he is locked away with the big boys now - hopefully he will get a
taste of his own medicine, for years to come.

The evil scrote.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 12:11 pm

Has Gordon Taylor said anything yet?

I'm assuming the PFA looked after all players, youth and pro?

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 12:16 pm

Sidney1st wrote:Has Gordon Taylor said anything yet?

I'm assuming the PFA looked after all players, youth and pro?

How can Gordon Taylor say anything?

He's only ever interested in the size of his bank account!

boiledclaret · Post by **boiledclaret** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 1:09 pm

Diesel wrote:What were authorities or just 'adults' in general actually doing in the 80's?

Seems like tossers like Bennell and half the entertainment business at the time could go around doing what the **** they liked.

Bordeauxclaret wrote:I fail to believe there was not a significant amount of people who knew what was going on and looked the other way. Or worse thought it was acceptable.

It happens because the UK makes endless excuses for the protection of psychopaths. Psychopaths are favoured in business because they get the job done. If anyone raises the alarm they'll just look silly because psycho's are the most devious manipulaters that you'll ever encounter. Plus they'll bare a grudge and you'll find yourself a marked man. I'm sure a few people on here will have worked for, or known a psycho, you'll be aware of how chaotic, toxic and dishonest the atmos is. Plus, the reputation of the organization will always be more important than the individual, which is why the individual will be seen as a troublemaker and therefore smeared.

Seriously, the best way that you can empower yourself in todays society is to take a keen interest in psychopathy. I'm not saying its a nailed on solution but it can certainly help.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:10 pm

Spijed wrote:How can Gordon Taylor say anything?

He's only ever interested in the size of his bank account!

The PFA have, according to those affected, been very supportive. Shame, because of some report about his salary, that's all you could say about theirs and Taylor's support. The FA are one organisation who need to take a hard look at themselves whilst Crewe Alexandra have been nothing short of a disgrace.

As Ollie Holt wrote in the link above; John Bowler and Dario Gradi were chairman and manager at the time. In any other walk of life they'd have had no option but to resign their positions.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:15 pm

Supportive now it's out, did they do anything when rumours were allegedly abound at the time?

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:23 pm

Sidney1st wrote:Supportive now it's out, did they do anything when rumours were allegedly abound at the time?

Talk to ex-players and they will heap praise on the PFA. It's their union and therefore does what its members want. Was it supportive regarding rumours? I would say it was supportive of its members.

quoonbeatz · Post by **quoonbeatz** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:28 pm

taylor has previously said that when the pfa tried to investigate the rumours, people weren't willing to substantiate them on the record.

Sidney1st · Post by **Sidney1st** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:47 am

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sports ... -film.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Allegation against Gradi.