There were 'missed opportunities' to stop abuse by Southampton coach Bob Higgins, report finds
Video report by ITV News Meridian's Derek Johnson
A damning report into the abuse faced by young football trainees at Southampton Football Club has found there were 'missed opportunities' to end the 'disgraceful, horrific abuse' carried out by former coach Bob Higgins during the 1970s and 1980s.
The report by children's charity Barnardo's found that duty of care 'was disregarded by those who were responsible for the safety and well-being of boys who played with the Club'.
It reveals that board and management 'disregarded significant concerns about Higgins'.
In 2019, Bob Higgins was jailed for 24 years for sexually abusing trainees under his care over a 25-year period.
Barnardo's spoke with twenty-six men who, as young boys, knew or were abused by Higgins.
A number of the men talked to the charity about how Higgins would set boys up to 'compete for his attention'.
‘He was like a god like figure, untouchable. He was like Southampton Football Club.Boys were vying for his attention.’
• ‘I didn’t really know it as abuse. Some of us got far more attention than others.’
• ‘It always felt he was measuring you not just on your playing ability- does he like me?Was I one of the more favoured players?’
The club commissioned the report by Barnardo's in 2019 to understand who knew or should have known that sexual abuse of children was occurring at the Club, what could have been done to prevent that abuse, and what could have been done to better support the children who suffered abuse.
In a statement, Southampton FC said that following the report, 'too many people in senior positions at the Club, the FA and the Football League failed to ask the right questions'.
The statement read: "Bob Higgins held the dreams of so many young boys in his hands. He completely betrayed the trust of those boys and their families. We now know that Higgins had unfettered power at Southampton Football Club and that those in senior positions did nothing to make sure that there were suitable controls in place to prevent abuse from occurring.
"We doubt that anybody at the Club at that time wanted the abuse to occur. However, equally, no one in a position of power did anything to properly find out what was going on, to take action to make sure that the abuse was stopped and properly reported once it had been discovered or to offer support those who were targeted by Higgins."
The club says it is 'deeply sorry for the harm and subsequent anguish' that the victims and survivors of the abuse carried out by Bob Higgins have suffered over the course of so many years.
The full report and Southampton FC's statement can be found here.