andy woodward described how he was abused by his coach as a boy. i think it was a little bit further in the store. if i, if i upset him in any way, drop me from the t at any point you tell me, you will go and you will disappear and the dream won't happen. i was frightened to death because he had complete power over me. by that stage it was like a double woman, and he would try to abuse me sometimes even when my sister was in the same house, it was just like reading my own story, but with somebody else, somebody else's name. and that really resonated with me if you will think really, really hit her, a strong note on i felt compelled to, to speak hope. ah paul was raped by his coach between the ages of 10 and 14. he took us to see the manchester suburb where he lived as a child, the place where the abuse started back. then as soon as the school day ended, paul would spend all his time on the football pitch across the motorway, a few 100 yards from his home. that was where frank roper, his abuser 1st spotted him. at the time roper was working as a tal

in the article published on the 16th of november 2016, andy woodward of 43 year old ex footballer who had played professionally at regional level revealed that he had been raped by his coach between the ages of 11 and 17. it was obviously a very powerful interview with on the woodward, but i don't think that anybody realised than that it would release the floodgates of so many other people coming forward me. 4 days later, steve walters, another ex footballer told how his coach had abused him. the following day, david white, a former manchester city player, described how he too had been abused by his coach. more and more victims came forward. in a single week, 6 footballers accused their former coaches in the fortnight after the initial article. 350 footballers spoke out the nation was devastated by their stories. the police squad that dealt with pedophilia cases was tasked with coordinating all the information. it took the investigators over a year and a half to produce an initial report. mm . ah, the ellipse almost 3000 referrals that police had purely as a result of the initial sort