- Chelsea settled a High Court case brought by four former youth players in 2022
- Williams was handed a lifetime FA ban in 2019, but this was not made public
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According to reports, the Football Association has secretly handed out a life ban to a former Chelsea coach who was at the center of a racism and bullying scandal involving youth team players.
Gwyn Williams – who worked with several Chelsea managers, including Claudio Ranieri and Jose Mourinho, and helped discover John Terry – was found to ‘pose a risk of harm to children within affiliated football.’
In February 2022, Chelsea settled a High Court case brought by four former youth team players over alleged historical racist abuse by Williams and fellow coach Graham Rix in the 1990s. Each former player received a six-figure sum.
Williams, 76, was widely believed to have retired The Athletics report that he was handed an FA ban in 2019, preventing him from getting involved in the game.
The FA announces no penalties for safeguarding cases, while even those who exposed Williams have not been informed of the decision.
Chelsea settled a High Court case brought by four former youth team players alleging historical racist abuse by Gwyn Williams (right) and Graham Rix (left) in the 1990s
It has now emerged that Williams, pictured with Gianfranco Zola, was given a life ban by the Football Association in 2019.
Williams is seen with Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit after they won the 1997 FA Cup final
The Athletic also reported that Rix, previously Chelsea’s youth team coach, was suspended between March 2017 and March 2019 while the FA investigated his part in the scandal.
Rix, 66, is now the manager of non-league club Fareham Town. A 2019 safeguarding panel decision concluded that Rix ‘may pose a risk of harm’ to children in terms of emotional abuse, but the FA ruled there was not enough evidence to substantiate the allegations of racism against him.
But the FA’s security team interviewed 15 witnesses as part of its investigation into Williams, including former colleagues and a number of players who were victims of abuse.
The majority confirmed that Williams was racist, aggressive and bullying on several occasions, with language including the N-word and ‘black b******’.
The FA’s policy on reporting suspensions states: ‘Publishing details may have serious consequences.
“This includes retraumatizing victims and/or reliving harmful experiences of abuse.
“Furthermore, vigilante justice can have harmful consequences for innocent people associated with those involved in protecting things.”
