Ex-England boss Taylor accused of football ‘sex abuse cover-up’
Villa boss in cover-up claim Victims say warnings ignored
FORMER England manager Graham Taylor covered up the sexual abuse of boys by a paedophile, it is claimed.
An inquiry was told he discouraged at least two teenage players from making complaints, telling one of them to “sweep it under the carpet and move on”, evidence at an inquiry states.
Taylor, who died in January aged 72, was Aston Villa boss when he was told scout Ted Langford was a paedophile.
Defender Tony Brien, who was abused by Langford as a 12-year-old youth player for a feeder club, claims Taylor ignored his warnings that other youngsters were at risk.
Aged 16, Mr Brien was signed for Leicester City by then youth team manager Dave Richardson, recommended by Langford, who was a part-time scout for the club.
In the summer of 1987, Mr Richardson joined Villa as assistant manager and Langford moved with him.
Later that season Mr Brien said he decided to tell Mr Richardson how Langford, who was also then working for Villa, had abused him as a boy.
Mr Brien had several conservations with Mr Richardson and a single phone call with Taylor, an independent FA inquiry into football abuse was told.
Mr Brien says Taylor told him: “Look, you’re a young lad starting out in the game. You’ve just made your debut.
“Could you really be dealing with all the obscenities from the terraces? So I just suggest you sweep it under the carpet and move on.”
He told the inquiry: “They discouraged me from going forward and never offered me a chance to go to the police.”
He said he burst into tears after telling his mum of the manager’s knockback,
A second player said Taylor visited him at home and discouraged him from taking a complaint further against the scout, the inquiry was told.
Paedophile Langford worked for Villa until 1989, when he was sacked in the wake of other abuse allegations. He admitted three charges of indecent assault and four of gross indecency against boys in 2007. Langford, 66, was jailed for three years. He died in 2012.
Mr Brien, now 48, played as a defender for Leicester, Chesterfield, Rotherham United, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City. A police statement he gave last December was passed to the FA.
In it, he said Langford abused him from the age of 12 in his Ford Granada at a golf course in the Midlands. The inquiry is investigating whether Villa failed to alert authorities about child sex abuse. So far, 741 alleged victims have come forward and 276 suspects have been identified by Operation Hydrant, the police probe into historical sex abuse in football.
Aston Villa said they had “co-operated fully” with the FA inquiry. Mr Richardson said he could not recall any conversation with Mr Brien about alleged abuse.
He said he launched the investigation which resulted in Langford’s sacking after being told of “alarming allegations” in 1987.
Taylor died from a suspected heart attack in January. He led England to the 1992 European Championships and also managed Watford, Wolves and Lincoln.
I suggest that you sweep it under the carpet and move on GRAHAM TAYLOR WHAT PLAYER CLAIMS HE SAID