GRADI IN DOCK AS BENNELL IS FOUND GUILTY OF 43 CHARGES
DARIO GRADI, director of football at Crewe Alexandra, today faces renewed questions over his attempt to clear the name of paedophile Barry Bennell 24 years ago. After Bennell was yesterday found guilty of 43 sex offences against 11 victims by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court, Sportsmail can reveal that Gradi wrote a glowing character reference for the ex-Crewe coach in 1994. Gradi’s letter was part of an extraordinary campaign of support for Bennell after he had been arrested for sexually assaulting a 13-yearold boy in the United States that year. Liverpool’s Rob Jones and Middlesbrough’s Craig Hignett — both players Bennell had coached at Crewe — were also among the 32 people fooled into writing statements in support of the paedophile. Some of the most grievously abused boys, including Bury defender Andy Woodward and Crewe midfielder Steve Walters, also contributed. Following Bennell’s conviction yesterday, Manchester City are also facing an accusation they ignored a warning in 1979 that the predator posed a risk to children. A number of compensation claims have also been lodged with the Premier League leaders from former youth team players, with more expected to follow. Former Crewe boss Gradi, who has been suspended by the Football Association pending an investigation into sexual abuse in football, wrote a letter to a court in Florida, in 1994 in support of Bennell, who was facing six charges of child abuse to which he later pleaded guilty. Gradi wrote on Crewe Alexandra headed notepaper to say that Bennell had ‘a great ability to communicate with kids and was responsible for bringing many boys to this club’. Gradi, described as ‘one of English football’s best developers of young players’ by the National Football Museum, insisted in November 2016 that he knew nothing of Bennell’s crimes until he was first arrested in 1994. Yet Hamilton Smith, a Crewe board member from 1986 to early 1990, said in November 2016 that he was so concerned about Bennell that he had convened two management meetings in the late 1980s — the second of which was in Gradi’s office and which he attended. Gradi and Crewe have not responded to
Sportsmail’s requests for comment about the character reference he provided in 1994. There were 32 letters in all, demonstrating how comprehensively this serial paedophile had fooled football. Former Liverpool defender Jones described how much he ‘respected’ Bennell and added: ‘Not once did I ever have any cause to be concerned about my personal safety.’ Hignett, then at Middlesbrough, sent a handwritten note saying he had ‘the greatest respect for Barry’. But it is the Gradi letter which will be of most interest to an FA-convened inquiry into historic sexual abuse in football. The inquiry is already examining a claim that the 76-year-old Gradi tried to ‘smooth over’ an allegation of abuse against coach Eddie Heath, when the pair worked together at Chelsea in the early 1970s. There is no suggestion that Gradi is himself under suspicion of abusing minors. Eventually Bennell admitted 22 offences in 1998 and Chester Crown Court heard that one had taken place at Gradi’s house, although there was no suggestion the manager knew what had happened. Further offences took place on a Crewe training pitch and in a club dressing room. Bennell will be sentenced on Monday.