BEARDSLEY ACCUSERS WANT BULLYING PROBE
PLAYERS who claim to have been bullied by Peter Beardsley have called on the FA to investigate the former England forward in light of his seven-month ban for racially abusing Newcastle’s young black players.
Sportsmail has seen correspondence sent to the governing body asking if they will now take a closer look at allegations of mistreatment of academy players, some dating back to 2002. And the representatives of other players who gave evidence against Beardsley want to know
why bullying claims were not addressed during the hearing which found the former Under 23s coach guilty on three counts of using racist language, including calling one player a ‘monkey’. Academy player Yasin Ben El-Mhanni’s claims of bullying and discrimination in January 2018 sparked the club’s internal investigation and led to Beardsley’s use of racist language being uncovered. Managing director Lee Charnley headed the probe and found it proven that Beardsley (below) was guilty on three counts of racially abusing players of African origin. The former club captain was then sacked for gross misconduct. But the FA regulatory commission’s written reasons following their guilty verdict this week made no mention of the original bullying claims, even though it was revealed that 23 players had given evidence of Beardsley using insulting and foul language towards academy players. Nor did the FA consider or ask for more details concerning the case of the seven families who raised concerns about Beardsley’s treatment of their sons in 2002, despite some of the individuals involved making contact with them in recent months. The case of Lewis Gibson — the academy defender who quit Newcastle for Everton in 2017 because of Beardsley — was also not included. It was only in March of this year that Beardsley’s departure was officially confirmed by the club. Newcastle handed over all of their evidence, which is thought to include the allegations of bullying, to the FA. The FA said they were not in a position to comment when asked if they would now be looking into the
bullying claims.