FA ‘didn’t do enough’ over claims

FOOTBALL boss Harry Redknapp claims the FA could have done more to monitor a coach accused of sexual abuse.

Redknapp said rumours that Bob Higgins may have preyed on young players in the 1980s had been “rife” for years.

But he was allowed to continue working for clubs.

Redknapp, former manager at Southampton, where Higgins was a youth coach, said: “I certainly think the FA could have done a bit more to monitor him and make sure he wasn’t allowed back into football.”

Higgins has denied all the allegations. He was acquitted of sex abuse charges in 1992.

In 1997, a TV documentary on Higgins broadcast the testimony of eight people who claimed to have been abused.

The same year, police and social services sent a letter to schools and youth groups warning that the coach “poses a risk to children”.

After he left Southampton in 1989, Higgins went on to work at several other clubs, including Peterborough and Winchester City FC.

He was working with Fleet Town FC in Hampshire until the football sex abuse scandal broke three weeks ago.

Redknapp said he thought Higgins’s career would have been over after the TV documentary.

He added: “I’m amazed he’s been involved in football since that day.”

About 350 victims, including several high-profile former players, have now come forward to report child sexual abuse within UK football clubs.