White and Stewart are true heroes

THE Sheldon Review left many questions unasked and even more unanswered. It was unsatisfactory, it lacked zeal and it lacked conviction. The opposite was true of Football’s Darkest Secret, the three-part BBC documentary into the epidemic of sexual abuse in the English game, which aired last week and was one of the most powerful pieces of television I have ever seen.

It was powerful because it was so upsetting and so moving. And in a way, it was uplifting, too. Because it focused on men who had been abused in their childhoods and who had found the courage to come forward and tell their stories and, in the process, had not only brought evil men to justice but had reduced the chances of football ever turning a blind eye again.

So David White was a hero of mine when he played for Manchester City. I loved watching him flying down the right wing. I marvelled at just how fast he was. Sometimes, his pace seemed other-worldly. He was so quick, he could make it look like defenders were running in treacle. He was a hero of mine then, and here’s the thing: he’s even more of a hero of mine now.

The same goes for Paul Stewart. He was never one of my favourite players in the way White was but I found his testimony in the first episode of the series deeply upsetting and profoundly moving. I am aware that there is a danger of patronising men like him and Ian Ackley, Dion Raitt, Andy Woodward, Gary Cliffe, Steve Walters, Dean Radford and so many others who have spoken out by saying how brave they are or how much I admire them, but it is still worth saying.

It is worth saying because, through their actions and the power of their testimony, they have done more to stop the emergence of another Barry Bennell or another Bob Higgins than the Sheldon Review ever could.

They have changed the culture that allowed football to sleep walk into a situation where abusers were allowed to ruin the lives of children unchecked. They and people like the journalist Danny Taylor, who told Andy Woodward’s story for the first time, empowered so many others to come forward. They have stopped more lives being blighted. They have dragged football out of its complacency and the closing of ranks that was once its defence mechanism against ugly secrets like this.

That’s why I admire them. Because they are men who have made a difference. So I loved David White as a footballer but he is more of a hero to me now than he ever was. And Paul Stewart? He scored a goal in an FA Cup final and he played for England but it pales besides what he has achieved in the last few years. He wasn’t a hero of mine before. But he is now.