Why has it taken so long for football sex abuse scandal to be uncovered, asks Richard Scorer
In a media interview in November 2016, former Sheffield United footballer Andy Woodward spoke publicly about sexual abuse he experienced while he was a youth player at Crewe Alexandra. Woodward waived his anonymity to tell The Guardian that he was raped more times than he could remember. His revelations, which were quickly followed by disclosures from other former players, set off a tidal wave of media publicity and debate about sexual abuse in football. A few weeks later the NSPCC revealed that the number of calls to their dedicated football abuse hotline helpline had exceeded even the number in the early days of the Jimmy Savile scandal. Multiple police investigations are underway, implicating nearly 250 clubs. This is clearly a major scandal. But why football, and why now?
Power, deference & fear
To anyone acquainted with the nature and causes of child abuse, what is now being exposed in football is unsurprising. The common threads linking the many child abuse scandals are power, deference and fear. All these ingredients
