A former youth football coach accused of sexually abusing a string of schoolboy players told one alleged victim he loved him and got down on his knees to beg him not to leave his club, a jury has heard.
Billy Seymour, a former professional footballer, claimed Bob Higgins was upset and angry when he told him he was going to leave Southampton to train at the Football Association’s centre of excellence at Lilleshall in Shropshire.
In a police interview shown to the jury, Seymour said: “He broke down crying and said ‘I love you’, and got down on his knees. I ran away from him. It was horrible to see a grown man on his knees, crying.”
Seymour said he could not wait to get to Lilleshall. “I felt safe, it was my sanctuary,” he told Salisbury crown court.
Higgins has been accused of being a “predatory paedophile” who abused boys over 25 years. He denies 50 charges of indecent assault involving 24 complainants.
The court has been told Seymour stood out as being the boy most affected by the abuse he allegedly suffered.
Seymour, who has waived his right to anonymity, said he was spotted by Higgins when he was 12. Clubs including Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were interested in signing him, but Seymour said he was won over by Higgins’ charisma.
“Bob Higgins was renowned as a fantastic coach,” he said. “His sessions were second to none. I was sucked in. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I couldn’t wait to get to his sessions.”
Seymour said he received “preferential treatment” from Higgins. “It was quite overpowering how he took a shine to me. I thought it was for football reasons.”
Higgins would give him gifts including tracksuits and bottles of the same aftershave he wore, and take him to football matches, sometimes getting him a seat in the directors’ box. Seymour said: “I had a lot of love for him at that time.”
The former professional said Higgins drove him to night-time training sessions across southern England and London. Seymour said Higgins would play the Whitney Houston song The Greatest Love Of All in the car and tell him: “This is the most beautiful song, it reminds me of you so much. There’s something about you Billy I haven’t seen in any lads before.”
Higgins would allegedly tell Seymour to rest his head in his lap as he drove, and stroke the back of his neck. Higgins would allegedly touch his own groin area at the same time.
Seymour said Higgins began to invite him to stay at his bungalow. He claimed the coach would kiss him and touch his nipples as they shared a sofa. “It was a horrible feeling,” Seymour said. “He would put his hands down my shorts and stroke me.” Higgins would allegedly tell him: “This is a beautiful thing. I’m going to make you a star.”
Seymour said Higgins began to invite him into his bed. “He wanted me to cuddle him. Most mornings, he would ask me to get into bed with him,” he said.
After one alleged incident at Higgins’s house, Seymour said he ran outside.
He said: “I felt like my head was going to explode, like I was going to puke, vomit. My head was pounding, I was sweating, I just had to run out of the house, I was frightened, scared, I was panic-stricken, it was blind panic, I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know where to run.”
The former footballer said Higgins once summoned him into his cabin as they travelled on a ferry to a football tournament in Sweden. “He had just got out of the shower. He was in a dressing gown. He asked me to sit on his lap. He was putting my hands down my shorts and stroking my groin area,” Seymour said.
The trial continues.
