Football sex abuse: England manager Gareth Southgate reveals `teammate a victim`

Hundreds of victims have come forward to claim child sexual abuse within football clubs, the National Police Chiefs` Council (NPCC) has said.

More than a third of the UK`s forces are now caught up in historical allegations with the rising `abused` figure of 350 based on information supplied to Operation Hydrant about existing investigations as well as referrals from a new dedicated NSPCC helpline.

The NPCC said a “significant number of calls” were made to forces after more than 20 former players made allegations of abuse against coaches.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the NPCC`s lead for child protection and head of Hydrant, said the number of victims was “an indicative figure only”, and that with information still being collated numbers could change.

He said: “We are working closely with the Football Association to ensure that the response to this significant and growing number of victims, at all levels of football, is co-ordinated effectively.

“We continue to encourage those who have been the victim of child sexual abuse to report it, regardless of how long ago the abuse may have taken place.

“We will listen and treat all reports sensitively and seriously. Anyone with any information regarding child sexual abuse is also urged to come forward.

“When allegations are reported it enables police to assess whether there are current safeguarding risks and to ensure that appropriate action is taken to prevent children being abused today.”

Allegations of abuse are being recorded and investigated local to the area where each allegation was made, the NPCC said.

Derbyshire Constabulary and Warwickshire Police are the latest forces to confirm they are investigating claims, bringing the current tally to 16.

The others are: Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Cheshire Constabulary, Dorset Police, Essex Police, Greater Manchester Police, Hampshire Constabulary, the Metropolitan Police Service, Norfolk Constabulary, North Wales Police, North Yorkshire Police, Northumbria Police, Police Scotland and Staffordshire Police.

The number of claims has rocketed since the former Crewe Alexandra player Andy Woodward spoke publicly on November 16 about how he had suffered abuse as a youth footballer with the club.

Within days of the launch of a dedicated helpline on November 23, the NSPCC has received 860 calls and made 60 referrals to a range of agencies across the UK – more than three times as many as in the same period of the Jimmy Savile inquiry in 2012 that rocked the nation`s conscience.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said the “staggering surge” of calls to the hotline demonstrated the “worrying extent of abuse that had been going on within the sport”.

FA chief executive Martin Glenn said on Thursday (December 1) that he believed it unlikely there was an organised attempt to “cover up” sexual abuse in the game but has promised to punish any club found guilty of doing so “regardless of size”.

He promised the FA`s independent review would, alongside the forces` investigations, be looking into reports that some clubs may have paid off alleged victims in return for their silence.

Mr Glenn said: “We`ve committed to a full review, shining the light on what happened in the past in football.

“We have clear rules in the game and if there`s any evidence of a breach of those – and hushing up would be one – subject to due process, the police need to be at the right place in this, when it`s our turn to apply the rules we absolutely will, regardless of size of club.”

The National Association of People Abused in Childhood said that last week it received 100 requests from people to join its support groups, compared with a weekly average of ten.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse headed by Professor Alexis Jay is also considering whether to investigate abuse in football as part of its overarching probe, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley told MPs.

And ministers are writing to all national sporting bodies to ask them to “redouble their efforts” to prote