A former youth footballer has told a jury that his ex-coach used his position of power at a professional club to brainwash, manipulate and sexually abuse him.
The complainant said he believed the former Southampton and Peterborough United coach Bob Higgins was his “best friend” and his only chance of becoming a star.
But he claimed that as a teenager he would be intimately touched by Higgins as he sat at the coach’s feet.
The complainant, who can only be identified as V, went on to have a career in football and did not speak about what allegedly happened to him until years later. “I was totally brainwashed,” he said. “I wouldn’t have a word said against Bob. I didn’t want to hurt him.”
Winchester crown court heard that V worked with Higgins in the mid-1990s when he was in charge of the under-16s at Peterborough United.
About 10 years later, V phoned Higgins to tell him what he thought of him. “I thought he was a man who abused his position of power, who manipulated me as a boy, who had not been a positive role model to me in the transition from being a boy to a man,” he told the court.
V said he went to the police at the end of 2012 to complain about Higgins. “I knew I was ready. I was strong enough to deal with it. As long as he was out there I thought he was dangerous,” he said. The police investigated but at that time no charges were brought.
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.
V told the jury that he was in awe of Higgins when the coach arrived at Peterborough. He knew the famous players he had worked with and believed he could make him a professional. “He went from being my coach to being closer to that. He became my best friend. He was probably my only friend,” he said.
The complainant said he began to spend most weekends at Higgins’ home in Southampton, training in a local park. Higgins, he said, was his “role model, a father figure, my main support and carer”. He added: “He told me that I was like a son to him.”
During trips to and from matches and training in a minibus, Higgins would signal to V that he was thinking of him by taking off his own cap and rubbing his head. V said he would slip his hand under Higgins’ shirt so he was touching his skin. “I wanted to show him what he meant to me.”
Asked about what he felt about the physical contact, V said: “Part of me felt special, part of me felt that it wasn’t right.”
When the two were in Higgins’ car alone V said the coach would touch his legs and bottom. He came to dread it. “I hated it. I wasn’t strong enough to say no.”
V claimed he was intimately touched by Higgins at his home. He said he would sit on the floor in front of Higgins’ armchair and the coach would rub the teenager’s groin area with his foot. “Sometimes I would cry,” he said. “I learned that if I cried he would stop.”
Asked if he was told why Higgins had left Southampton, V said the coach had told him that sexual allegations had been made against him by young players there.
“He said all he ever did was love those boys.” The coach told him that with his help he would play for England and become a star. During one conversation Higgins allegedly told V that he thought he would do anything to become a professional – even perform oral sex on him. “I sat crying. He said: ‘Don’t look so worried. I’m not asking you to suck my dick. He sat me on his knee and cuddled me.”
The trial continues.
