Former Manchester City star Stephen Ireland claims senior players used to pee in the boots of the younger players.
The Irish international came through the ranks in Manchester and said youth players were subjected to a host of abuse.
But when he raised the issue Ireland was told to “toughen up” and “stop being a baby”.
The former Aston Villa and Stoke man spent five years at City and has labelled the treatment of the club's younger platers as "horrendous".
He told the Athletic : “How the older pros used to treat the young boys, the things they used to make you do – it was horrendous. There would be players doing their toilet in people’s boots.
“Or they would do it in a box and leave it in someone’s locker for three or four days.
“Or it might be in the keeper’s gloves so the keeper would put their hands into it.”
“You’d go for lunch sometimes and it would be, ‘You, get over here! Right, you’re not leaving this table until you have eaten this’.
“It would be a bowl of soup with prawns, coleslaw, Tabasco sauce – you name it – thrown in. They would get an ashtray and empty all the cigarette butts into this soup.”
The now 33-year-old also went on to saw that he had “a hundred stories of things that wouldn’t happen now and shouldn’t have happened then.”
He also added that travelling to away games was "torture" for the younger players who would have hot spoons burnt on their necks while sleeping.
Since Ireland played for City they have been transformed by their millions and could finally end their wait for Champions League success this season.
The club declined to comment when asked about Ireland's claims.
