St Patrick's Sports Academy
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| Founded | 1966 | |
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| Chairman | Gerry King | |
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The Celtic Boys Club is a youth football club based in Glasgow, Scotland and is a feeder club for Celtic FC. The club operates teams in age groups from under-9 to under-17 and has helped develop many future professional footballers.
History
The Celtic Boys Club was founded in 1966. First based in Maryhill, the club was independent from Celtic FC at first, but links started to strengthen as the Boys Club was allowed to use the training facilities at Barrowfield training complex on London Road. John Higgins, a Celtic scout, recognised the benefits of the club and a semi-formal agreement was made where the Under 16 side would act as a nursery for Celtic scouts to find players with potential to play for Celtic FC, although players from the Boys club are under no obligation to sign for Celtic FC.
Jim Torbett
The running of the club came under the spotlight in 1996 when former player Alan Brazil revealed that when he was 13 he had been sexually abused by Jim Torbett, the manager of the club.[1] The allegations were heard at the Glasgow Sheriff Court, where Torbett was found guilty on charges of shameless and indecent conduct with three juvenile players, between October 1967 and March 1974.[2] Torbett was jailed for two and a half years.[3] There have since been allegations that Celtic prevented knowledge of the abuse becoming public, most publicly when Rangers fans chant "Big Jock Knew".[4] Alan Brazil has commented that Jock Stein was not involved in this, although he criticised the Kelly family for standing by Torbett.[4]
Honours
- Template:Sport honours Under 16
Professional players developed
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2010) |
Celtic Boys Club has helped develop many future professional players, some of whom have gone on to play for Celtic FC.
References
- ^ a b "This Evil Pervert Wrecked My Dream of Playing for Celtic". Daily Record. 4 September 2006. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ "Former Celtic manager guilty of abuse". BBC News. 12 November 1998. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ Bentham, Martin (18 September 2005). "Child abusers who shame British football". The Observer. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ a b Bendoris, Matt (7 March 2009). "Matt Meets Alan Brazil". The Sun. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ http://www.toffeeweb.com/players/past/Weir.asp
Above is a list of sexually abused players.
External links
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