Former Spurs, Liverpool Star Paul Stewart Says He Was Sexually Abused by Coach

Former England international Paul Stewart has alleged that he was sexually abused as a child by a youth coach who threatened to kill his family if he told anyone. 

The 52-year-old, who played at Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City during his career, claimed he was assaulted every day between the ages of 11 and 15 by the coach who promised to "make him a star."

Per Jeremy Armstrong in the Mirror, Stewart, who has waived his right to anonymity, said he decided to tell his story 40 years on in the hope that more victims will have the courage to come forward, as he fears a paedophile ring was operating in north-west football at the time. 

BBC's Nick Sutton provided a look at the newspaper's front page:

In shocking revelations, Stewart said the abuse at the hands of the coach—who cannot be named—led him to have problems with drink and drugs in later life, per Armstrong:

"

One day, ­travelling in the car, he started to touch me. It frightened me to death, did not know what to do, I tried to tell my parents not to let him in but I was only 11.

From then, it progressed to sexually abusing me, he said he would kill my mother, my father, my two brothers if I breathed a word about it. And at 11 years old, you believe that.

He would say, "Does anyone want to drive the car?" I sat with a leg on one side by the steering wheel. That is when he first touched me. [...]

The mental scars led me into other ­problems with drink and drugs. I know now it was a grooming process. The level of abuse got worse and worse.

"

Stewart also revealed that he knew of other team-mates who were abused at the hands of his tormentor, including one older player who admitted the fact to him when the pair met again as adults.

Describing the coach as a "monster," the former Blackpool forward explained that he would be threatened "with violence as well as sexual abuse" if he was not playing well.

The revelations come on the back of Andy Woodward's revelations that he was abused by serial paedophile Barry Bennell while at Crewe Alexandra from the age of 11, per Daniel Taylor in the Guardian.

Steve Walters, Crewe's youngest-ever debutant, has also now revealed to Taylor that he endured similar abuse at the hands of Bennell.

Stewart told of how his own abuser used the example of Bennell to try to normalise his behaviour, per Armstrong: "He told me Barry was doing it to kids on a team we played. I think I was 12 or 13, he was trying to infer it was normal."

"When I read Andy’s story, it was like reading my life story," he said.

Upon signing for Blackpool as a 15-year-old, Stewart was able to escape his abuser. He debuted for the Seasiders' senior team as a 17-year-old in 1981 and went on to earn three England caps.

After a spell with City he was signed by future England manager Terry Venables for Spurs in 1988 for a fee of £1.7 million and went on to win the FA Cup with the north London club in 1991.

At Spurs he played alongside Three Lions legends Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. 

He described his playing days, his family and his success as "a way of forgetting" about the abuse he suffered and said that he had to decided to come forward to "get the message out."