Crewe Alexandra held a fans’ forum on Monday night which saw questions on paedophile Barry Bennell shot down. The club also took the staggering step of printing out mugshots of certain journalists to ensure none gained entry.
At the ‘Let’s Talk Football’ event, the club’s manager, David Artell, bemoaned the fact he was unable to work with director of football Dario Gradi, who has been suspended from all football activities since December 2016 pending an FA investigation into sexual abuse in football.
Chairman John Bowler claimed at the event that the club were being ‘transparent’ about Bennell, a former Crewe coach who was last week jailed for 31 years for 50 counts of child sex abuse against 12 victims.
Paedophile Barry Bennell worked for Crewe but the club would not answer questions on him
Bennell, 64, worked for the club in two spells between 1985 and 1992. Bowler, who has been a Crewe director since 1980 and who became chairman in 1987, was asked about Bennell, but stopped the supporter mid-question.
The 81-year-old said the board ‘appreciates there has been a lot of press interest’ in Bennell but said the club was sticking to the statement it published on its website on February 15, the day the first set of verdicts were delivered against Bennell at Liverpool Crown Court.
Bowler claimed the statement explained the ‘costly’ things the club has been doing since the scandal broke in November 2016 and that the club has been ‘thoroughly’ investigated by the police.
He said: ‘In view of ongoing legal action it would be inappropriate to talk about that any further… and therefore tonight we’re talking football.’
Crewe have been accused of trying to downplay the situation but Bowler told the room at Gresty Road ‘we are being as fully transparent as we can’.
Director of football Dario Gradi is suspended pending an FA investigation into sexual abuse
A follow-up question from BBC Radio Stoke’s Crewe matchday commentator Graham McGarry focused on an allegation from ex-director Hamilton Smith about what Bowler and others at the club may have known about Bennell’s behaviour but Bowler said he had nothing ‘at all’ to add – an answer which sparked applause from many of those present.
At the start of the evening an A4 piece of paper at reception featured a series of mugshots of reporters who have covered the scandal, in an attempt to ensure none were allowed entry.
Gradi was suspended following a new wave of revelations about Bennell’s activities while he was a youth coach at Crewe. Gradi is not under suspicion of abusing minors. Cheshire Police asked players about him during their 1998 inquiry and received nothing but positive comments about him.
When asked by a supporter if he would benefit from an experienced mentor, former Rotherham defender Artell responded: ‘We’ve got one, but we can’t use him. I’m not allowed to speak to him, as much as I’d like to have weekly, daily, hourly chats with him.’
Last week, Sportsmail reported that a former schoolboy footballer and Crewe player approached the FA to claim that Gradi had showed him a pornographic movie at his home in the 1980s, before inviting him on a skiing holiday.
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