Football bosses asked: Why have you not donated yet?
ANDY WOODWARD will seek talks with four of football’s leading bodies after it emerged they are yet to donate funds to his new trust. Woodward’s revelations lifted the lid on the sex abuse scandal within the sport. He launched the Offside Trust on Monday with two other ex-pros who have told similar stories of abuse. They immediately sought financial assistance from the FA, Professional Footballers Association, Premier League and English Football League. However, financial backing has not yet been forthcoming and Woodward will now launch a personal appeal to each organisation. He told Sportsmail he has already spoken to PFA chief Gordon Taylor and the FA and is set to meet both in the near future. ‘I am in negotiations to sit down and talk about my vision to protect children from this horrendous abuse,’ he explained. ‘I have a business plan but we need backing, we need help.’ At the trust’s launch in a Manchester hotel, Woodward was joined by fellow former Crewe Alexandra player Steve Walters and ex-Manchester City youth player Chris Unsworth. They say their aim is to ‘fight for justice’ and support victims of a scandal which is gripping football. The trust is supported by Prosperity Law, a Manchester-based firm that specialises in child abuse cases. At the launch, 43–year-old Woodward said: ‘We are fighting for justice. We have all been through it and we just want justice.’ Prosperity Law’s Edward Smethurst, who is acting for the trust free of charge, said ‘calls and emails are coming in all the time’ from players claiming to have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements with clubs in return for compensation. It emerged last week that Chelsea had paid former player Gary Johnson £50,000 to keep quiet about his own abuse while at the club.