Furious Celtic Boys Club abuse survivors believe lawyers will try to argue their class action is too late. Thomsons Solicitors, representing 25 people who have made allegations of abuse, have vowed to fight the claim “robustly”.
Partner at the firm, Patrick McGuire, accused Celtic FC lawyers of “putting the boot into survivors by deploying this defence”. Four men, including ex-Boys Club boss Frank Cairney, have been convicted. And lawyers acting for the former players, are confident their court claim will be successful.
Here's the timeline of the youth team's abuse scandal, from it's inception in 1966 to the Daily Record revealing the truth of sex attacks on youth players, right up until the present day.
1966 Celtic Boys Club created.
1971 Frank Cairney joins the youth team on Jock Stein’s nod.
1974 A club official booted out of club after allegations of abuse.
1980 They reportedly returned after Stein had left the club.
1996 Ex-Scotland star Alan Brazil reveals he was abused.
1996 A Boys Club official arrested after stories in the Daily Record. Later jailed for two years.
1996 Paedophile kitman Jim McCafferty leaves Celtic for “personal reasons” after teen sex abuse claims surfaced.
2016 He confesses to our journalist, saying he couldn’t recall how many boys he abused.
November 2016 The SFA announces review of allegations of historical child sex abuse.
February 2017 Celtic FC say sorry to victims, announcing an internal probe into allegations.
March 2017 Celtic FC paid £30,000 to ex-player who alleged he was abused by ex-Celtic coach Jim McCafferty in the 90s.
April 2017 Celtic FC issued a second statement, announcing an independent inquiry.
2018 Celtic say the boys club was an “entirely separate entity”.
2019 McCafferty jailed for six years for child abuse and Cairney handed a prison sentence.
2020 Celtic “very sorry” abuse ever took place. Civil legal action launched against Celtic.
2021 Celtic fresh apology over sexual abuse at Celtic Boys Club.
2022 A former senior member of the Boys Club is charged with a child sex offence and an ex-coach with links to the club is extradited from Vietnam to stand trial.
2023 Victim fury after Cairney seen out walking in community after being unfit to stand trial.
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