Media captionSteve Walters: 'I was inconsolable' Four police forces say they are now investigating allegations of historical child sex abuse within football. Hampshire Police said it was looking into claims of "non-recent child abuse within the football community". Cheshire Police says allegations have been made against more than one person while the Northumbria and Metropolitan forces have also opened investigations. It comes as four ex-footballers spoke out about being abused as children by ex-Crewe Alexandra coach Barry Bennell. Andy Woodward, who was the first to go public last week, wept as Steve Walters, Chris Unsworth and Jason Dunford spoke about their abuse by Bennell in an emotional interview on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.
Image caption Victoria spoke to (L-R) Jason Dunford, Steve Walters, Chris Unsworth and Andy Woodward The Premier League said it was concerned by the allegations and urged those with information to come forward. MP Damian Collins, the chairman of the culture, media and sport committee, told the BBC he wants to hear from the Football Association. He said: "The FA need to look back to see were mistakes made in the past. Were clues overlooked? Was not enough done to investigate a problem that they may have been perceived?" Mr Unsworth and Mr Dunford waived their anonymity to speak out for the first time on Friday. Mr Unsworth, 44, said he "thought he had to come forward... and help everybody", after his girlfriend showed him an interview on the Victoria Derbyshire programme with ex-Crewe player Mr Woodward, 43.
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He had been a youth player at Manchester City with Bennell before moving to Crewe with him when he was about 12 in the mid-1980s. Media captionChris Unsworth on how the abuse started. Mr Unsworth said he had stayed at Bennell's house several times and the coach sometimes had two or three boys in the bed at once, where he would abuse them. "We never spoke to each other about it," Mr Unsworth said. "I was raped between 50 and 100 times." Mr Dunford said he had been staying at a Butlins holiday camp after winning a football competition, when Bennell attempted to touch him in bed. He later moved to different boys' football teams and said at one point another coach also attempted to abuse him. Mr Dunford has now given a report to the police. Neither player turned professional, in part because they felt Bennell drove them away from the game.
Image caption Barry Bennell has served three jail sentences for child sex offences In other developments: Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, which represents players, said the PFA and the FA had been aware of rumours of abuse but there had been "no cover-up" Karen Bradley, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said she had spoken to the FA and PFA to offer government support and ensure they were working with police and other agencies The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said it was monitoring the allegations and its "terms of reference are broad enough to include failures by sports clubs" PFA Scotland's chief executive Fraser Wishart said it would be "naive to think" the allegations were unique to one part of the UK and urged players of all levels to report
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any claims of abuse In 2001, the FA put in place new rules to protect children, requiring adult and junior teams at all levels to have a trained safeguarding or welfare officer. Some critics say the regulations rely too much on children being able to report abuse. The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel. Does your child play football? What is your experience of your club? How do they protect children? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your comments. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: Whatsapp: +44 7525 900971 Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay Send an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100
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