Ex-Chelsea youth players ‘endured racism from age 12’

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From Jim Reed and Louis Lee Ray
The Victoria Derbyshire programme of BBC
Two Chelsea youth gamers also have told BBC News they were subjected to abuse by a former manager.
One said that in the age of 12 – to his very first experience with Gwyn Williams – remarks were made by the trainer concerning his characteristics.
Williams had called him racist nameshe asked him if he’d been”robbing old grannies”, also stated it was a”rarity” that he went to college.
Williams denies all allegations.
The two prior youth-team players were talking out for the first time since Chelsea published a report at August into the scandal.
Neither of them gave evidence to this inquiry, which found that the young black players had been subjected to”a daily tirade of racial abuse” from the 1980s and 1990s.
Williams, the former academy manager, was called the”instigator” of racial abuse in the club.
Anthony – not his name – told the Victoria Derbyshire of the BBC programme that he had been subjected to racist abuse during coaching sessions.
“I remember the very first time that I met [Gwyn Williams] he said how large my lips were, how big my nose was”
He said Williams had made a remark about the size of his penis.
“And that was my first encounter. I was 12 years old.”
A participant, Kieran – not his real name – said Williams referred to him with language.
“I had been coming in [to instruction ] scared to make a mistake,” he explained.
“On the pitch it influenced me because I couldn’t relax. I had been thinking if I have a poor game everyone is going to say’you black that this’ or’you shameful ‘.”
Williams rose to assistant manager, leaving the club and joined Chelsea in 1979 as a youth development officer.
His lawyer wrote to Chelsea denying”any and all” allegations of racism.
He maintained the consequences of this report revealed he were”biased, untrue, unfair and artificial”.
The report, commissioned by Chelsea and composed from the charity Barnardo’s, uncovered signs of a racist atmosphere.
The report looked to allegations against a different Chelsea coach – former England Graham Rix.
It discovered while he”might be competitive and bullying”, about the evidence presented to them was not racially abusive.
Kieran and anthony said since it had been paid for by Chelsea, they didn’t give evidence to the inquiry plus they had worries about its liberty.
But they told BBC News they’d heard Rix use racist terminology.
Anthony said Rix asked him if he had gone out and had sexual intercourse with”some of our white girls” at the weekend.
“I thought,’I’ve had enough of this’, and I said,’Yeah, I’d’,” Anthony told the BBC.
“And he said,’If this was my daughter I would lynch you’.”
Rix was detained in 1999 for six weeks, working sexually attacking a woman and being reinstated as a coach by Chelsea.
He went on to manage clubs including Portsmouth and Heart of Midlothian.
Rix’s lawyer gave a statement to the Barnardo’s inspection, denying he was a bully, competitive or racist.
The attorney told Kieran’s and Anthony allegations were denied by BBC News Rix.
He added the FA and the Disclosure and also Service [DBS] had researched and not put any limitations on Rix.
Chelsea have apologised for the”deeply shocking behavior” described from the Barnardo’s report.
It stated:”Barnardo’s reviewers concluded that the various accounts given of acute racially violent behavior towards young players were credible.
“As a club we wish to apologise to those who underwent this profoundly shocking behavior.
“We’re doing, and can continue to do, what we can to make sure that all those boys, girls, men and women who play with this team – and really anyone who works for or with all the club will never have to endure the dreadful experiences which these young players suffered.”
Both ex-players said it had felt impossible to report that their allegations.
They said Chelsea had no policy in place at the moment, and there’d been no official to switch to with a criticism.
“I didn’t wish to make trouble because of my parents at all, shape or form,” Anthony added.
Kieran and anthony accuse the club of trying to minimise publicity across the scandal by publishing the findings about the identical day as a separate research with another coach decades before.
They said that they wanted a full apology but had not been contacted by Chelsea since the book of the accounts.
“I have not heard anything from anybody [at Chelsea],” explained Anthony.
“So, is this just a PR exercise? Are they sincerely sorry and going to acknowledge what happened?
“They need to speak with people, not just put a generic announcement .”
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