An abuse survivor has claimed that he was molested in premises used by Celtic Boys Club that were yards from Celtic FC’s stadium. Gordon Woods was 13 when Jim Torbett, the founder of Celtic’s feeder club, sexually assaulted him. He alleges that some of the abuse took place in a building used by...
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An abuse survivor has claimed that he was molested in premises used by Celtic Boys Club that were yards from Celtic FC’s stadium.
Gordon Woods was 13 when Jim Torbett, the founder of Celtic’s feeder club, sexually assaulted him.
He alleges that some of the abuse took place in a building used by the boys’ club in the Sixties.
Mr Woods, who has waived his right to anonymity, told Channel 4 News: “Immediately outside the main Celtic ground there was a building. It was painted in the same colours as Celtic FC. It was part of Celtic FC’s grounds. That’s where we trained. That’s where some of the abuse took place.”
The building has been demolished but photographs and Celtic publications confirm its existence.
Torbett was jailed for two years in 1998 and for six years in November 2018 for sexually attacking boys in his care. Celtic FC has expressed sympathy but continues to insist that the boys’ club was a separate organisation with which it had “historic contacts”.
Mr Woods, now in his sixties, denied this, saying: “We were very much part of Celtic FC.” He was backed by James Dornan, an SNP MSP whose son was on the books of Celtic FC and its feeder club.
Martin Henry, chairman of the Independent Review into Sexual Abuse in Scottish Football, told Channel 4 that there had been an “irrefutable” historical relationhip between Celtic FC and the boys’ club, which was later severed.
He said that Celtic FC and other clubs had an
“inescapable” moral obligation to accept responsibility for the abuse that took place at feeder clubs. Offering compensation was “the right thing to do,” he added.
The Scottish Football Association, which commissioned the review, said Mr Henry was speaking in a personal capacity and that it did not endorse his views. The governing body stressed that it was not in the gift of the review to apportion any liability.
The review’s interim report, published in 2018, suggested that
senior teams could not distance themselves from abuse at feeder clubs. The Times understands that this will be reiterated in the final report, which is expected to be published within weeks.
Celtic said: “Celtic FC is appalled by any form of historic abuse and has great sympathy for those who suffered abuse and for their families. The club is very sorry that these events took place.
“Although Celtic FC is a separate organisation, we take these [claims] extremely seriously because of the historic contacts between the two organisations.”
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