Southampton admit to ‘institutional failure’
⮞opportunities missed to stop ‘disgraceful abuse’ by Higgins apologise after not protecting boys in their care
⮞club
A catalogue of missed opportunities to stop Bob Higgins from repeatedly abusing young footballers has been laid bare in a damning report that concludes with Southampton accepting a “complete institutional failure” to protect boys in their care.
Higgins began working part-time at Southampton during the 1970s but was allowed to continue coaching at various clubs right up until 2016 when the scale of football’s sexual abuse scandal was uncovered. He was finally sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2019 after being found guilty of 45 charges of indecent assault against 23 teenage boys over a 25-year period.
The 126-page report, which followed an investigation by children’s charity Barnardo’s, discloses that a complaint was made about Higgins when he was scouting for Southampton in 1979 and that he then resigned from his position days later, only to be appointed as the club’s youth development officer in 1980.
The nature of the complaint, however, was not detailed in retrieved minutes of board meetings and a senior former club official said that, although they could not recall the complaint, it “would not have been related to issues concerning abuse”.
It was also disclosed that, in 1974, police records detailed an alleged conversation between a local headteacher and a club board member. The teacher had complained about Higgins’s “inappropriate behaviours” but was told by the board member not to repeat this “gossip” or legal action would be taken.
It was also disclosed that Higgins was allegedly briefly sacked in 1985, that the Football Association sent a letter in October 1987 advising all clubs not to have contact with Higgins and that abuse allegations were directly reported to the club in 1989. Higgins again resigned shortly after but was left free to coach and abuse boys elsewhere. Although board minutes stated an intention to raise concerns with the police some four months after the allegations were raised, police action is believed to have followed an earlier complaint by a parent. A trial on six counts of indecent assault collapsed on the direction of a judge in 1992.
Five of the boys who had told police of abuse they suffered were never called to give evidence. In their report, Barnardo’s reported ongoing questions among survivors as to “whether the decisions and actions taken during the trial ... were
influenced by factors outside of the legal process”.
Barnardo’s said it could find no evidence to support that assertion but that “questions continue to be asked about why certain decisions were taken and why, importantly, there are no papers available pertaining to the trial of Higgins”.
In a statement to accompany the report, Southampton acknowledged failure to protect boys in their care “was then compounded by the complete lack of support for those boys who were brave enough to speak up”.
They have apologised for their failings and also attempted to answer why action was not taken earlier. “Regrettably, we have to conclude that it was because it was simply easier not to see the signs of potential abuse, not to listen to the children who were abused, not to properly challenge Higgins and not to stand up against his disgraceful behaviour,” the statement said. “Too many people knew or should have known what was going on. There were so many missed opportunities to end the disgraceful, horrific abuse.”
Barnardo’s said that “childhoods were stolen or ruined by Higgins” and that “the collateral damage on their families, their employment and their physical and mental health and well-being is incalculable”.