White latest player to come forward over suffering sexual abuse
Former Manchester City winger David White is
the fourth English footballer to speak publically
about being sexually abused as a child by a
youth coach.
White also claims he was abused by Bennell,
while his one-time City team-mate and fellow
England international Paul Stewart told the Daily
Mirror he was sexually assaulted between the
ages of 11 and 15 by an unnamed coach, who
told him of Bennell's crimes in an attempt to
legitimise the abuse.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the 49-
year-old White said: "In light of recent press
stories, I wish to confirm that I was sexually
abused by my former football coach Barry
Bennell in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This
abuse took place while I was attached to
Whitehall FC, a junior team, based in
Manchester.
"For a number of reasons and for nearly two
decades I kept my ordeal secret from my family
and friends.
"Throughout my football career I had come to
terms with what happened, but I now know that
the effects of Bennell's behaviour were much
more profound than I had thought."
White is set to release a book next year entitled
"Shades of Blue: The Hidden Torment of a
Football Star" that will detail his ordeal.
"I didn't set out to write a story about the
abuse, but there came a point when I knew I
would have to include it," he said.
"In doing so I began to realise that Bennell's
actions influenced almost every event and
relationship in my life."
White, who came through the ranks at City as an
FA Youth Cup-winner and represented his
boyhood club between 1986 and 1993 before
going on to play for Leeds United and Sheffield
United, also paid tribute to the courage shown
by Woodward, Walters and Stewart.
"I need to emphasise that I do not feel brave,"
he added. "Despite the far-reaching ramifications
of 1979-1980, I believe I was one of the luckier
ones. Circumstances took me away from the
abuse before it escalated to levels that I now
know others had to endure.
"I salute Andy Woodward, Steve Walters and Paul
Stewart for waiving anonymity in order to reveal
their personal tragedies. The physical abuse that
they and others suffered was certainly more
extreme and prolonged than my ordeal and I
cannot be sure that I'd have had the courage to
come forward."
Bennell was sentenced to nine years in prison in
1998 after admitting sexual offences against six
boys. He was arrested when he was deported
back to England following a four-year prison
sentence in Florida for raping and indecently
assaulting a 13-year-old British boy at a football
camp.
Now 62, he was given a third sentence of two
years in 2015 for abusing a 12-year-old boy
during a coaching course in Macclesfield in 1980.
the fourth English footballer to speak publically
about being sexually abused as a child by a
youth coach.
while his one-time City team-mate and fellow
England international Paul Stewart told the Daily
Mirror he was sexually assaulted between the
ages of 11 and 15 by an unnamed coach, who
told him of Bennell's crimes in an attempt to
legitimise the abuse.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the 49-
year-old White said: "In light of recent press
stories, I wish to confirm that I was sexually
abused by my former football coach Barry
Bennell in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This
abuse took place while I was attached to
Whitehall FC, a junior team, based in
Manchester.
"For a number of reasons and for nearly two
decades I kept my ordeal secret from my family
and friends.
"Throughout my football career I had come to
terms with what happened, but I now know that
the effects of Bennell's behaviour were much
more profound than I had thought."
White is set to release a book next year entitled
"Shades of Blue: The Hidden Torment of a
Football Star" that will detail his ordeal.
"I didn't set out to write a story about the
abuse, but there came a point when I knew I
would have to include it," he said.
"In doing so I began to realise that Bennell's
actions influenced almost every event and
relationship in my life."
White, who came through the ranks at City as an
FA Youth Cup-winner and represented his
boyhood club between 1986 and 1993 before
going on to play for Leeds United and Sheffield
United, also paid tribute to the courage shown
by Woodward, Walters and Stewart.
"I need to emphasise that I do not feel brave,"
he added. "Despite the far-reaching ramifications
of 1979-1980, I believe I was one of the luckier
ones. Circumstances took me away from the
abuse before it escalated to levels that I now
know others had to endure.
"I salute Andy Woodward, Steve Walters and Paul
Stewart for waiving anonymity in order to reveal
their personal tragedies. The physical abuse that
they and others suffered was certainly more
extreme and prolonged than my ordeal and I
cannot be sure that I'd have had the courage to
come forward."
Bennell was sentenced to nine years in prison in
1998 after admitting sexual offences against six
boys. He was arrested when he was deported
back to England following a four-year prison
sentence in Florida for raping and indecently
assaulting a 13-year-old British boy at a football
camp.
Now 62, he was given a third sentence of two
years in 2015 for abusing a 12-year-old boy
during a coaching course in Macclesfield in 1980.
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