A FORMER footballer has told of the sexual abuse he claims he suffered at the hands of a youth coach as a teenager.

Eamon Kavanagh, from Breightmet, alleges that he was abused by John Broome in 1969 while he was with Whitehill Boys, one of Manchester City's former feeder teams.

Mr Kavanagh, who was 14 at the time of the alleged incidents, says the abuse happened after training sessions taken by Broome, who is now dead.

He has decided to waive his right to anonymity and speak out following the sentencing of Barry Bennell, who was found guilty of 43 charges of historical child sexual abuse, and who also worked for Manchester City, in the 1970s.

Manchester City said they are investigating allegations against Broome, but they are not believed to be linked to Bennell.

Mr Kavanagh, 63, from Bury Road, said: “He (Broome) seemed all right at first. He seemed a good guy, but as the weeks went by he started saying ‘stay behind Eamon, I will give you a rub down,’ and he started fiddling with me.

"I wasn’t traumatised but I knew it was out of order. The thing is, it was my first encounter with that sort of side of life.

People who you feel you should trust let you down. It’s upsetting when you think that person who had your trust has taken advantage of that.”

Mr Kavanagh, a father-of-three, was a member of the now-defunct Whitehill Boys for about a year, and says the abuse happened on 'about half-a-dozen' occasions.

But despite coming from a close and supportive family, he felt unable to tell his parents as he did not want to jeopardise his chances of a career in football.

“I was frightened of telling my mum and dad, because I knew they would pull me out and I wanted to play for City,” he said.

“There were so many of my school friends who had such high hopes for me and said: ‘you must stick in and keep going, you will make it’.

“I was well known around Bury as one of the better players. It was coming to the realisation I was going to have to leave that was the most upsetting thing. I realised I wasn’t getting anywhere with John."

Mr Kavanagh, who has published two local history books, added: “There is anger there. It comes from the fact I could have had a better chance of making it as a professional footballer if he had had his mind on it.

“He was more concerned with satisfying his own wants than helping my career.”

And he says, in hindsight, Broome could have been deliberately stifling his prospects.

“The thing with John was that a couple of other clubs had come in for me and he had put them off. I couldn’t understand, if he didn’t see a future for me, why didn’t he let me go?" he said.

Mr Kavanagh, who has taken his allegations to the police, also believes Broome may have taken advantage of the fact that the team was made up of boys scouted from all over the country.

He said: “In those days we were all very naïve. I knew it was wrong. It didn’t feel right, but I didn’t know the other lads well enough to know if some of them were getting the same treatment.”

Despite not telling his parents about the abuse, Mr Kavanagh, who had seven siblings, was able to confide in his older sister, Margaret - then aged about 17 - about what was happening to him.

And he believes that if there were other victims, who did not come from close families, they could have been more seriously affected.

“Without doubt,” he said. “If I had been an only child I think I would have taken it a lot harder. We were a very, very close family.”

As well as his reluctance to jeopardise his football career while a teenager, Mr Kavanagh says he was also worried about upsetting Broome’s family.

But after hearing Broome’s name mentioned on national TV in connection with sexual abuse in football, he felt it was time to tell his story.

He said: “I think the main thing is it might put others in the mind of coming forward. That would be the best outcome – if they feel they have to get it off their chest, because I can’t see it just being me, not with him also being named in the national news.”

Mr Kavanagh says he has not suffered mental health problems as a result of Broome’s alleged behaviour. But he will never know if he could have made it as a professional footballer.

He adds that he managed to enjoy life playing semi-professional football for clubs including Hyde United, Radcliffe Borough and Clitheroe and also ‘loved’ his job as a postman.

“I don’t carry any anger with me, in a lot of other ways I was very fortunate,” he said.

A spokesman for Manchester City said: "Whilst Manchester City FC is restricted as to what it can make public at present, the club can confirm that to date, the Review Team has identified serious allegations of child sex abuse in respect of two identifiable individuals with potential historic connections to Manchester City. One of these individuals is Barry Bennell. The second identified individual - John Broome - is deceased and is not believed to be linked to Bennell. Investigations into Mr Broome and his alleged offences continue.

"In addition to these individuals, the team continues to exhaustively examine a number of reports of historic anomalous behaviours, no matter the level of gravity and strength of potential connection to Manchester City, over a period spanning more than 50 years."

We are awaiting a statement from Greater Manchester Police.