Atkinson says he’d never heard of child sex abuse at any of his former clubs
RON ATKINSON has revealed his shock at the child sexual abuse scandal which has rocked English football and is adamant he never heard a suggestion of wrongdoing at any of the clubs he was involved with, either as a player or as manager.
While the former Manchester United boss has admitted he heard of ‘isolated incidents’ and ‘rumours about one or two other clubs’ he insists football did not turn a blind eye to what was happening and feels it was simply impossible to comprehend such abuse could even take place.
Since Andy Woodward waived his right to anonymity a fortnight ago to reveal the allegations against former Crewe Alexandra coach, scout and serial paedophile Barry Bennell, 350 victims have come forward to contact police in Britain while the dedicated NSPCC hotline for football received 860 calls in the first week.
‘H for honesty, when I look at it now I think “hell fire”. I would never have realised the depths,’ Atkinson said.
‘You might have heard of isolated incidents. I certainly don’t remember anything being said at any of the clubs I’ve ever been at. Not one of them.
‘You did hear rumours about one or two other clubs but you just put it down to “ah, that’s just banter” or somebody is saying that.
‘I never heard one situation where it was even remotely discussed, or anybody came to us and said “ah, you better watch him or you better watch out for that” at any of the clubs I’ve been at as a player or a manager, never ever.
‘It certainly has come has a big shock, I’ll be honest with you. There were one or two slight rumours but you never heard anyone say “hey, that’s that” or you never heard anyone point the finger or anything like that. It’s the sort of thing, it’s not putting your head in the sand or whatever, you just didn’t think those things went on. It’s not the norm.
Several players have followed Woodward’s lead in bravely revealing their own stories publicly and Atkinson fears there could be further revelations soon. ‘It is a big story and obviously it makes you wonder now what’s next that is going to come out? You really do. That is a sad side of it.
‘Hopefully, alright there have been one or two names bandied about, but I certainly hope that nobody I knew gets any sort of mention or whatever you want to call it. I wouldn’t like to think that.’
Atkinson was involved in football over five decades, beginning his days with Aston Villa in the 1950s before joining Oxford United where he spent the rest of his playing career. It was as a manager that he enjoyed most success, though, first at Kettering Town and Cambridge United before really making his name at West Bromwich Albion from 1978-81.
His exploits at The Hawthorns attracted the attention of Manchester United, with whom he won two FA Cups. He left in 1986 and returned to West Brom, but soon joined Atletico Madrid only to come back to England after a season. Over the course of a decade he would take take charge at Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Coventry City, Wednesday again and Nottingham Forest.
A successful mainstream media career as a commentator and newspaper columnist then came to an end in 2004 after he made racially denigrating comments about Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly when, after an ITV programme had ended, he was unaware his comments were still being broadcast in other countries. He continues to pay the
I just can’t imagine why people would want to harm a child ....
price for those remarks, which he says he regrets.
Atkinson has been totally taken aback by the child sexual abuse scandal and cannot comprehend what would drive a person to commit such crimes.
‘I was out with some ex-high profile policeman recently and I was saying to them that I just can’t imagine why people would want to [harm a child]. You can’t, I can’t. You just imagine why it could happen. How could someone do that? Where is the appeal? There’s no appeal. Why would people want to do that?’