he told me, how, as a talented young footballer aged nine, he was spotted by benell.gested connections to top tier football clubs, to persuade parents to allow their sons to sign for his club, which he ran himself in north. ian told me very early on, as the team was doing well, and having won the trust of his parents, bennell suggested that ian stay overnight at his place, so they could talk tactics. and ian would be fresher for the game the next day. the parents, being very trusting, and totally taken in by bennell, consented to the stay over. the sexual abuse began immediately. ian was not the only child to stay over. in some occasions, there would be a number of boys there. some sleeping in the same bed as bennell, and staying overnight at bennell‘s place soon became the normal. he said he had wrongly assumed that such sexual abuse could not occur today. more needs to be done with regards to summer sports courses. as things stand, there will be nothing stopping me or anyone else from hiring a field and setting up my own summer football skills course for kids. with