THE CELTIC BOYS CLUB SCANDAL: VICTIMS SETTLED, BUT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Apr 2
- 3 min read
Ever since the news broke yesterday about a seven-figure settlement in the cases of historical sexual abuse at Celtic Boys Club, I’ve been dreading having to write this piece.
However, plenty of others have had their say, the club have also made a statement and now, it’s my duty to put my thoughts on it all out there.
I’ll preface this by saying that, until last month, I worked as a school teacher for more than 15 years.
I worked with kids of the very same age and profile as those that the scum who once prowled the halls of Celtic Boys Club preyed upon, unopposed, for years.
The thought of anything like that happening to any of the kids under my watch is just utterly sickening.
So, if I use some rather choice or even offensive language in this piece, I hope you can appreciate the level of anger and other emotions this particular story stirs in me.
No Amount of Compensation Will Heal the Damage Caused by Celtic Boys Club
First off, the seven-figure sum, which reports suggest is to be shared between around 20 of the 30 litigants isn’t enough.
Seven figures could be anything from 1 million to 9.9 million.
It doesn’t matter really. It could be ten times that amount and it still wouldn’t be enough.
No amount of money can give these men back their shattered childhoods.
No level of compensation will ever dispel the trauma inflicted upon them by these coaches. People they trusted, people they looked up to.
It is a fact that nobody currently working at Celtic Park had anything to do with these crimes, the latest of which were committed more than 3 decades ago.
That does not however, absolve the club of responsibility, and yesterday’s ruling reflects that.
The exact nature of the business relationship is irrelevant, previous regimes at Celtic Park should have settled this years ago, without the frankly embarrassing attempts to obfuscate the relationship between Celtic Boys Club and Celtic itself.
As I’ve said, no amount of compensation will ever be enough to heal the damage done to the victims. And no of prison time or other punishment will ever be enough for the sick, sub-human b*stards who committed these acts.
If Hell is indeed a real domain, then there is, hopefully, an especially agonizing place in it set aside for Torbett and Cairney.
We cannot ignore the fact though, that they did not act alone. Such creatures always hunt in packs.
Evidence suggest that Celtic were just one of many clubs where such heinous crimes took place around that time.
I won’t name the clubs here, because unlike some of the pondlife who dwell on social media, I don’t believe child abuse should ever be used for point-scoring exercises, or the purposes of “banter”.
Suffice to say, this is not a problem unique to Celtic, and its something that calls for a root and branch national inquiry, encompassing all levels of football across the entirety of the U.K.’s constituent countries.
The most recent statistics suggest that only 1 of every 6 sexual crimes committed in the UK are reported to police. And of those, only a fraction result in conviction. More work needs to be done to improve these woeful figures. More has to be done to encourage and support victims to speak up.
The victims of Celtic Boys Club deserve all the support and praise we can give. Their bravery, their courage in facing down their abusers made Scotland a safer place by putting those two predators away.
But this cant be the end, this must just be the start. No more point-scoring, no more cheap jokes at the expense of these victims and others like them.
Beasts like this are a threat to all our children.
It doesn’t matter what team you support, what your personal politics are, or what church, if any, you attend.
We all need to work together to permanently exorcise this evil from Scottish football and from wider society.