• Former youth players claim coaches bullied and abused them
• Tony McAndrew latest coach alleged to have bullied in 1990s
Three more former Aston Villa youth players have come forward to allege that they suffered sustained bullying and abuse from their coaches, Kevin MacDonald and Tony McAndrew, during torrid, unhappy years at the club in the late 1990s.
Greg Walters, who has since built a career in financial services, joined Villa as a “scholar” at 16 in 1998, the first year of the new academy system. He recalls constant, personal abuse and criticism in his two years at the club, no praise at all; the coaches routinely calling the young players “cunts”; and MacDonald and McAndrew joining in training sessions confrontationally, including lunging at players with two-footed tackles. Walters rejects any argument that this was a professional approach aimed at toughening players up or was “old school,” the accepted culture of the time. Instead he believes that it destroyed his confidence and that of other promising players, few of whom developed to professional careers.
Written by Exclusive by David Conn
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/dec/20/aston-villa-bullying-allegations-tony-mcandrew-kevin-macdonald-players under the title “‘Being released was like a relief’: more players allege Aston Villa bullying”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
