Expert Abuse Lawyers Comment On the Scale And Support Needed

Specialist abuse lawyers at Irwin Mitchell are shocked at the speed and scale of which the football abuse scandal has escalated over the past few weeks and say that support networks will need to be robust to be able to help the amount of people who have come forward.

There are now 83 potential suspects and 98 clubs identified spanning all tiers of the game, although this figure could be higher, according to police.

 The UK’s leading children’s charity, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), says it has received more than 1,700 calls to a dedicated football abuse hotline set up just three weeks ago.

Due to the scale of the scandal and it being described as the biggest crisis the Football Association (FA) has seen, they’re planning to conduct a review to see whether more could have been done. The Scottish FA has launched its own inquiry into football abuse.

Tracey Storey, a Partner and expert abuse lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, who has helped abuse victims, said:

Expert Opinion

“For years there have been abuse cases arising from sports clubs and sports coaches but the scale this has now reached, and related to the professional game, is on another level entirely. The support networks must be robust and the networks already in place will be tested by the number of survivors that need help and advice and support to help them overcome their trauma as much as possible.

“Sadly the environment of coaches in a position of power over players who are under extreme pressure to make it in the professional football world seems to have created a black hole of abuse which has seemingly gone unchallenged for far too long.

“The bravery of those first footballers to speak out has exposed this problem – now the authorities have to sort this out once and for all – not just for those survivors, but to ensure this cannot happen again.”
Tracey Storey - Partner

The scandal first became public knowledge on 16 November 2016 after Andy Woodward, 43, waivered his anonymity to speak out about how he was sexually abused as a youth player.

Since then, a number of footballers also waivered their anonymity and told their stories to the public.

Tom Fletcher, expert abuse lawyer at Irwin Mitchell which has recently been instructed by several former footballers affected by abuse, has been instructed by one victim of football abuse to investigate Manchester City Football Club after the victim was a youth player there at the time of abuse.

Twenty-two police forces have opened investigations into the abuse including; Devon and Cornwall, Warwickshire, Avon and Somerset, Essex, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Dorset, Staffordshire, Greater Manchester, North Wales, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Cheshire, West Midlands, South Wales, Dyfed-Powys, Scotland Yard, Police Scotland, Northumbria Police, Derbyshire Constabulary, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and more recently, South Yorkshire.

The FA’s review is led by Clive Sheldon QC to determine if clubs and officials knew about the abuse at the time, and if so, what actions were taken. 

Our child abuse solicitors are committed to pursuing cases to the best possible outcome, without causing any additional psychological trauma to those affected. Call 0808 271 8937 to talk confidentially to someone about making a claim or visit our Abuse & Criminal Injury Claims page for more information.