Alan Brazil, the former Scotland footballer, has said that the abuse he suffered at Celtic Boys Club still casts a shadow over his life, and has called for victims to be compensated.
Brazil was sexually assaulted by
Jim Torbett, the coach, while playing for the club at the age of 13.
The retired footballer, now a radio presenter on TalkSport, revealed he could recall the incident vividly and still pictured the “leer” on Torbett’s face as he molested him. He said he was contacted regularly by other victims and had backed their claims for damages.
Torbett, 73, the founder of Celtic Boys Club, was jailed for two years in 1998 for molesting players, including Brazil, between 1967 and 1974. He was jailed for a further six years in 2018 for sexually abusing boys between August 1986 and August 1994.
Three other men linked to the club have been jailed for abusing boys in recent years.
Legal papers were lodged in June on behalf of a survivor who is seeking compensation from Celtic FC. The case is expected to be heard within months and another 20 people are set to sue the club. This year Celtic FC said they were “very sorry” the abuse happened but have insisted the boys’ club was an entirely separate entity with which it had “historic connections”.
Writing in his new autobiography, Only Here For A Visit, Brazil, 61, said: “For years, Celtic’s official line was that the Boys Club was a separate organisation, that they were not legally culpable and therefore wouldn’t be issuing an apology.
“I understood why they took that position because Celtic are a business and issuing an apology would have opened them up to maybe hundreds of compensation claims. But when I was a kid, I didn’t see any separation between Celtic Boys Club and the ‘big’ club. I wore the same strip, my blazer had the same badge and I was watched by Celtic scouts. As far as I was concerned I was playing for Celtic’s junior side. To say there was no connection isn’t right.
“This terrible story should not be about business and lawyers and money. It should be about the victims and Celtic supporters, people who have loved the club all their lives and feel let down. Celtic did finally make some sort of apology in 2020, but the victims of abuse deserve more than an apology, they deserve to be compensated.”
Recalling his experience, Brazil said Torbett took him and other young players to his home and gave them ice cream before molesting them.
Brazil, a former Ipswich Town striker, said Torbett’s latest sentence was “ridiculously lenient” and that he did not think he would be able to put his ordeal behind him until his abuser was dead.
He said: “He sat down next to me, started kissing my head and put his hand between my legs. I recall that I was wearing my Boys Club blazer and grey slacks, and can still picture the leer on his face. I froze for a couple of seconds, then a couple of lads walked in, at which point I jumped off the couch, ran to the bathroom and locked myself in.
“I’ve only hated one person in my life and that’s Jim Torbett. For as long as he’s alive, there will be a shadow hanging over me.”
Celtic said they had nothing to add to their statement from February.
It said: “The club is very sorry that these events took place. The abuse of young people is an abhorrent crime. Unfortunately it has affected many areas of society. With regard to the allegations regarding historic abuse at Celtic Boys Club (which, so far as we have been made aware, relate to prior to 1997), although Celtic FC is a separate organisation, we take these extremely seriously because of the historic contacts between the two organisations.”
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