Dennis Wise and Danny Wallace were among the schoolboy football players who stayed at the home of Bob Higgins, the former Southampton FC coach accused of sexually abusing youngsters, a jury has heard.
An alleged victim of Higgins told the court he remembered Wise, who went on to play for Chelsea, and Wallace, who was signed by Manchester United, staying at Higgins’ home in Watford in the 1970s.
The victim, a former schoolboy player identified in court as complainant E, alleged that Higgins ordered him to sleep naked when he stayed at his home. He also said that Higgins once quizzed him aggressively about his sexual development while driving him to watch Wise play.
Salisbury crown court has been told Higgins is a “predatory paedophile” who used his “supreme power” to allegedly carry out a campaign of sexual abuse against schoolboy footballers over a quarter of a century.
Higgins, now 65, abused boys on football camps, at the home he shared with his wife Shirley, in his car, and on ferries heading to cup competitions in Sweden, it is alleged. He denies 50 counts of indecent assault against 24 boys. Wise and Wallace are not complainants.
Complainant E, who signed with Southampton when he was 11, said Higgins was a fantastic coach and because his own dad was often away he regarded the defendant as a father figure.
For a birthday treat, Higgins took him to watch Manchester United and E stayed at his home the night before, the court was told. He said Higgins appeared outside his bedroom and told him he had to sleep naked.
“He said: ‘You have to take your pants and vest off. It’s better for you.’” E said Wise and Wallace, who both came through Southampton’s celebrated youth set-up, also stayed at Higgins’ home.
E said: “Bob was quite touchy feely. He would put his hands down the back of your shorts and pinch your bum.”
The player claimed Higgins made him burst into tears during a conversation about puberty on the way to see Wise play. “He was grilling me about my private parts. He was really aggressive and I started crying.”
Another former junior footballer, complainant B, broke down as he told a jury that Higgins sexually abused him during soapy massages after training at a former Royal Marines base in Deal, Kent.
The complainant, who was scouted by Higgins as a 13-year-old boy, said he had not spoken about the alleged abuse for 40 years but felt he had to break his silence.
Higgins allegedly touched him intimately as he massaged him. When this first happened, he said he tensed up. Then for the next training session was only a substitute. He was so desperate to succeed that when Higgins allegedly massaged him again, he did not tense up and was intimately touched.
B told the court: “A lot of the boys were vulnerable, but you knew in your head it was wrong. There was no one you could tell. It is not an easy thing to say, it is difficult for me to talk about.
“He massaged me all over. My quads, calves, places you should massage, but also places where you shouldn’t massage.”
A third alleged victim told the court on Tuesday that he gave up “living the dream” of playing football after he was sexually assaulted by Higgins.
Complainant D claimed Higgins was “like a God” to him before he indecently assaulted him during a massage.
“I looked up to him ... He was a great guy, he was friendly, tactile, he would put his arm round me in a fatherly way.”
He said that his relationship with Higgins changed after he was allegedly abused. “Before that point Bob Higgins was the greatest thing that happened in my entire life so I was really disappointed, I was really confused.”
Describing how he gave up football soon afterwards, he said: “I was living the dream at 14, after that I didn’t want to play football any more, I didn’t play football again. I think I was uncomfortable around football people.”
When asked why he did not tell anyone at the time, D said: “I felt disgusted with myself, if that makes any sense.”
The trial continues.
