Child Abuse Scandal

[coprolite]

10 minutes ago, Pull My Strings said:

Well, that's not the only question. Another question is: who's meant to apologise? Is it all clubs or are there particular clubs which have been identified as having been complicit (or negligent) in relation to historic abuse? 

An apology needs to include an acceptance of wrongdoing to mean anything.

 

Any club who has anything to apologise for should apologise for it. 

[WilliamBragg]

1 hour ago, G51 said:

I understand why some people are tempted to treat this as a taboo subject, because it's difficult to talk about it. But I think it is important that we, as supporters, at the very least acknowledge this report. We also have a role in pushing our clubs to do more to right this wrong. Supporters are the most powerful stakeholders in the game.

I'm not happy with the way my club has responded to this. I know supporters of my club and other clubs will be feeling the same. It feels as if it's been very easy for Scottish football (fans and clubs alike) to collectively stick their heads in the sand over the child abuse scandal. But lives have been ruined over this.

As a minimum, I would expect all clubs to implement the recommendations of the report, and will be writing to the Rangers SLO to make it clear that I expect Rangers to do this.

It is time for every club to stand up and accept responsibility. Because if clubs cannot accept responsibility over failings in the past, how can we be sure that they'll take responsibility for protecting children in the present and future?

An excellent post by a Rangers supporter who along with AJF I truly respect.

We should all get behind any proposal that does its very best to make sure this never happens in our game again.

My own club is not named in this but I would not be so nieve to say that means it hasn't happened there.

Let's put petty point scoring aside, deal with the issue and make sure future children are safe to pursue their dreams.

[HibsFan]

15 minutes ago, Pull My Strings said:

Well, that's not the only question. Another question is: who's meant to apologise? Is it all clubs or are there particular clubs which have been identified as having been complicit (or negligent) in relation to historic abuse? 

An apology needs to include an acceptance of wrongdoing to mean anything.

Edit: Before I get in bother with the mods, I should clarify that I'm not inviting anyone to speculate on the involvement of particular clubs, just querying whether it is genuinely helpful for clubs to issue banal, generic apologies en masse. Would seem to undermine the need for real justice for the victims. 

The article in question names a few of the clubs.

[Jinky67]

There has to be acknowledgement from all clubs involved that there has been massive failures leading to horrendous abuse, it’s harrowing to read.

With so much of it so far in the past and many of the perpetrators now having passed away I guess the question is how do clubs put this right? Apologies surely cannot be enough.

I hope clubs like mine do the right thing, we have so many fingers pointed at us for having our heads in the sand or refusing to take accountability, this separate entity argument would be a complete abdication of our responsibility in that the boys club bore our name so we should be doing everything we can to ensure we support victims, hold those we can accountable and ensure nothing like this can ever happen again. We can’t change the past all we can do is be better and provide somewhere safe for our kids to enjoy football and hopefully achieve their aspirations

 

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Jinky67

[Pull My Strings]

11 minutes ago, coprolite said:

Any club who has anything to apologise for should apologise for it. 

No arguing with that, I suppose.

[Leith Green]

Hibs statement. Not sure it qualifies as an apology.

https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/club-statement-2

[HibsFan]

4 minutes ago, Leith Green said:

Hibs statement. Not sure it qualifies as an apology.

https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/club-statement-2

Yeah, that's a pathetic cop out.

[Leith Green]

5 minutes ago, HibsFan said:

Yeah, that's a pathetic cop out.

Sounds like "we are not saying anything that might get us sued........"

Its like Rod never left

[oneteaminglasgow]

Partick Thistle statement on historic abuse report in Scottish football | Partick Thistle FC (ptfc.co.uk)

We've put out a statement. It does contain an apology, although I don't think it's as strong as it should be. 

[Biscuits]

Heartened by the responses so far. I would like to think that any club involved, especially in this day and age of clubs involvement within the local community, would go much, much further than an apology.

If St Mirren are involved in any shape or form I would expect a full, honest statement from the chairman, admitting where the faults lay, the steps taken to make sure they never happen again and an agreement to adhere to whatever legal requirements are coming their way.

It is completely irrelevant that this happened years ago and that the perpetrators are no longer associated with the club. It was still done in your clubs name.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

Bairns Statement (here: https://www.falkirkfc.co.uk/2021/02/11/club-statement-19/)

Falkirk Football Club welcomes the publication of the Independent Review into sexual abuse which is a thorough piece of work that everyone involved in Scottish football should reflect upon. We stand ready to work with the Scottish FA to ensure that the report’s recommendations are delivered upon to ensure all of our footballers are able to learn and develop in a safe and positive environment.

Our engagement with the Review centred around an individual who was employed for a short period with Falkirk FC in 2004. None of the admissions or allegations made against this individual relate to his short time with Falkirk FC nor did his role fall under the scope of disclosure checking as highlighted in the report. We have however strengthened our recruitment and due diligence processes and will ensure these are closely monitored to maintain appropriate and best practices.

[Ralstonite]

2 hours ago, G51 said:

It is time for every club to stand up and accept responsibility. Because if clubs cannot accept responsibility over failings in the past, how can we be sure that they'll take responsibility for protecting children in the present and future?

Saints already have a Child Wellbeing & Protection Officer. Unfortunately this sort of role didn't exist in the past, and it wasn't taken seriously enough. It would seem that paedophiles sought out positions in football clubs, the cub scouts, etc, where they had access to children.

 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

Good to see a reasoned and intelligent discussion on this subject. As to the question of how do clubs make it right when many of the incidents of abuse happened far in the past, perpetrators dead etc, imo an apology is the absolute minimum, but I think we need to see more than bland club statements. Clubs being involved in meaningful discussions and measures about minimising the possibility of this re-occurring would be a good start. 

[Jinky67]

8 minutes ago, Ralstonite said:

Saints already have a Child Wellbeing & Protection Officer. Unfortunately this sort of role didn't exist in the past, and it wasn't taken seriously enough. It would seem that paedophiles sought out positions in football clubs, the cub scouts, etc, where they had access to children.

 

Isn’t it now a legal requirement to have such an officer in place if your business or organisation coaches children?

Only mentioning that as I teach Taekwondo and our governing body had to elect an officer which we were led to believe was required by law so they can ensure all instructors are pvg’d and highlight immediately any safeguarding issues in our organisation. I imagine something similar must exist in football and if not I hope it’s one of the recommendations

Edited February 11, 2021 by Jinky67

[johnnydun]

I don't know if an apology from a club Spokesman/Chairman would hold much weight today.

I think condoning the actions of the past and highlighting what measures are currently in place at the clubs is a start, along with maybe some kind of victims charity set up by the clubs, to help with the mental health/finacial impact on the victims.

Edited February 11, 2021 by johnnydun

[DukDukGoose]

1 hour ago, Leith Green said:

Hibs statement. Not sure it qualifies as an apology.

https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/club-statement-2

 

1 hour ago, HibsFan said:

Yeah, that's a pathetic cop out.

I had a browse on Hibs.net, follow follow and kerrydale street. Most of the Hibs lot were making comments similar to yourself. The minority on kerrydale street and follow follow were unhappy with the club's response with most choosing to point score. 

Seriously grim stuff.

I don't think we'll ever see the responses we're looking for due to fear of a public admission of guilt going further.

[Newbornbairn]

 

Reparations?

[Crawford]

As others have said, how much of what we hear in the coming days will be out of genuine remorse or an attempt to save face?

Agree with others too that a fund should be organised to not only support victims of historical abuse, but to raise awareness at grass roots level too. Even now a lot of children and adults do not see the warning signs of grooming taking place.

[Skyline Drifter]

2 hours ago, Ralstonite said:

Saints already have a Child Wellbeing & Protection Officer. Unfortunately this sort of role didn't exist in the past,

Every SFA licensed club has had one for at least 4 years. Its compulsory these days.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Skyline Drifter

[Bairnardo]

I work with a lad who unknown to me until earlier this week, played under Jim Torbett at Celtic boys club. He was telling us some stories the other night. Not explicitly about acts of abuse, but of the atmosphere around the place, the power wielded by a select few of the abusers etc. Utterly sickening tbh. It was quite jarring to hear someone talk about it all from a position of experience and hes not that old, which ruined my own preconceptions about how far back all of this went on. It's alarmingly recent which might well be known to folk on here but wasn't to me.

Certainly something that needs to be faced up to with a united front from football of all levels. An admission that it was widespread and a commitment to ensure it never happens again including cooperation between clubs to keep unsavoury characters out of the game altogether is what we need, and for all clubs to come out and share the responsibility for that and make it clear its not a subject that's on the table for getting it up your rivals.