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

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By Jim Reed and Louis Lee Ray
BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme
BBC News they were subjected to abuse by a former manager has been told by two former Chelsea youth gamers.
One said that on his very first experience – at the age of 12 with Gwyn Williams – that the trainer made remarks about his facial characteristics.
Williams had known him racist nameshe asked him if he’d been”robbing older grannies”, also said it had been a”rarity” that he went to college.
Williams denies all allegations.
Because Chelsea released a report into the scandal the two players were speaking out for the very first time.
Neither of them gave evidence to the inquiry, which found that young black players were exposed to”a daily tirade of racial abuse” in the 1980s and 1990s.
Williams, the former academy director, was described as the”instigator” of racial abuse in the club.
Anthony – not his true name – told the Victoria Derbyshire of the BBC programme that he was subjected to racist abuse during coaching sessions.
“I remember the very first time that I met [Gwyn Williams] he explained how big my lips were, how big my nose was”
He said Williams had also made a remark about how big his penis.
“And that was my first encounter. I was 12 years old”
Another participant, Kieran – also not his actual name – mentioned Williams regularly referred to him using racist language.
“I had been coming in [to instruction ] scared to make a mistake,” he said.
“On the pitch it affected me since I could not relax. I was thinking if I really have a lousy game everybody is going to say’you shameful that this’ or’you black that’.”
Williams rose to assistant supervisor, leaving the team and joined Chelsea in 1979.
His lawyer wrote to Chelsea denying”all” allegations of racism.
He maintained the consequences of this report shown he were”biased, untrue, unfair and artificial”.
The analysis, composed by the charity Barnardo’s and commissioned by Chelsea, uncovered evidence of a poisonous, environment that was racist.
The report looked into allegations against a different Chelsea coach – former England international Graham Rix.
It found while he”could be aggressive and bullying”, on the evidence presented to them he was not overly violent.
Kieran and anthony stated because it was compensated for by Chelsea they did not give evidence to the inquiry and they’d concerns about its liberty.
However they both told BBC News they’d discovered racist terminology is used by Rix.
Anthony said Rix asked him when he had gone out and had sexual intercourse with”some of our white women” at the weekend.
“I thought,’I have had enough of the’, and I said,’Yeah, I’d’,” Anthony told the BBC.
“And he said,’If this was my daughter I’d lynch you’.”
Rix was jailed in 1999 for six weeks, serving sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and being falsified as a trainer by Chelsea.
He went on to manage clubs including Portsmouth and Heart of Midlothian.
Rix’s lawyer gave a statement to the review of the Barnardo, denying that he had been a bully, aggressive or racist.
The attorney told BBC News Rix denied Anthony and Kieran’s allegations.
He added the FA and the Disclosure and also Service [DBS] had researched and not put any limitations.
Chelsea have apologised for its”deeply shocking behaviour” described at the Barnardo’s report.
It said:”Barnardo’s reviewers concluded that the several accounts given of acute racially abusive behaviour towards young gamers were credible.
“As a team we want to apologise to those that underwent this deeply shocking behavior.
“We are performing, and can continue to do, what we can to ensure that all many boys, girls, men and women who play for this club – and really anyone who works for or using all the club – will not have to endure the terrible experiences that these young players suffered.”
The two ex-players said it had felt impossible to report that their allegations.
They stated Chelsea had no protecting policy in place at the time, and there had been no official to turn to using a complaint.
“I didn’t need to create trouble for my parents in any way, shape or form,” Anthony added.
Kieran and anthony accuse the club of trying to minimise publicity by releasing the findings on precisely exactly the exact same day as a separate 250-page research with another coach.
They said that they wanted a full apology in the club had not been contacted directly from Chelsea since the book of the accounts.
“I haven’t heard anything out of anybody [at Chelsea],” explained Anthony.
“So, is that merely a PR exercise? Are they sincerely actually going to acknowledge what happened and sorry?
“They will need to talk to individuals, not just put a generic announcement .”
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