CREWE CHAIRMAN BOWLER QUITS AFTER PUBLICATION OF ABUSE REPORT
JOHN Bowler has resigned as Crewe Alexandra chairman following the Sheldon review into child abuse in football.
Part of the review looked at paedophile Barry Bennell’s time at Crewe and said the club should have done more to protect youngsters there.
Bennell was employed as a youth coach and youth scout between January 1985 and September 1989, and from August 1990 to January 1992.
Bowler, who joined the Crewe board in 1980 and became chairman in 1987, said on Thursday: “I have today informed my fellow directors that I intend to stand down from my position as a board member of Crewe Alexandra Football Club with immediate effect.
“I always intended to do so following the conclusion of the Sheldon Review into child abuse in football.
“As the only person left with an association to that era, I truly believe that it was important for me to see it through to conclusion.
“I am satisfied with the findings of the review that found that the club did not have any knowledge of Barry Bennell’s heinous crimes.
“I will always be deeply appalled and sorry that those young players and their families suffered at the hands of this evil predator.
“I personally and sincerely apologise to them for all their suffering.
“Crewe Alexandra is a community based club with good people. I apologise to all our supporters that the name of the club has been tarnished.
“I have worked on the formation of a new board and know they will do all they can to move the club forward.
“Our Academy remains one of the finest in the country and we have every confidence in our safeguarding policies and procedures. There is always room for improvement and as a club will welcome the future recommendations of the Sheldon Review. “
Bennell was convicted in the United States during 1995 of sexually abusing a 13-year-old British boy on a tour.
In February 2018, he was sentenced to 31 years in prison for 50 counts of child abuse against 12 boys aged eight to 15 between 1979 and 1991. Judge Clement Goldstone QC described Bennell as “the devil incarnate”. He was sentenced to a further four years last year.
Crewe were criticised by the major independent review into child abuse in football by Clive Sheldon QC.
The review said: “Cheshire Constabulary carried out a detailed investigation of what might have been known by the Club about Bennell’s abuse and concluded that “there is no evidence to corroborate Crewe Alexandra Football Club were aware of what Bennell was doing.”
“I have seen no evidence that could properly lead me to a different conclusion.”
However the review also says: “There were also rumours circulating about Bennell and his sexual interest in children, and I am satisfied that these were heard by some of the club’s staff, in particular the coaching staff.
“In circumstances where there were rumours circulating about Bennell and where there was no obvious reason why boys needed to stay with Bennell so regularly, I consider that the Club should, at the very least, have satisfied itself that there were appropriate arrangements in place for the boys, and the Club should have periodically spoken with boys who stayed over at Bennell’s house to check that they were being properly cared for.”
Sheldon’s review also concluded it is likely that three directors of the club discussed concerns about Bennell which hinted at his sexual interest in children.
Bowler’s resignation was welcomed by a support organisation founded and run by survivors of sexual abuse in sport.
The Offside Trust said: “We obviously welcome this decision. We thought it might have been made in 2016. And again in 2018. For it not to have happened since the Sheldon report was published, rubbed salt in the wounds of survivors. It has taken several days of pressure from survivors, journalists and ultimately the club’s own supporters to force this resignation today.
“This was the very least that should have been expected and hopefully it clears the path for a new chapter. The Offside Trust looks forward to a positive relationship with Crewe Alex in the future – in the same way as we have enjoyed with many other clubs in the last five years.
“Lessons must be learned. Longevity in an organisation is overrated – whether it’s in the boardroom or the dug out. Closed organisations run by small cliques can be breeding grounds for complacency and far worse.
“Transparency, honesty and humility should be championed above insularity and tribalism.”