Manchester United are being sued as a man claims they failed to protect him from ‘sexual and physical abuse’ by a former employee of the club.
The claim, made in the High Court, accuses Billy Watts of abusing the man when the claimant was a child in the 1980s.
Watts, who died in 2009, was a caretaker, kit man and groundsman at the Manchester United training ground during his time working for the club.
The claimant cannot be named for legal reasons, but lawyers at Simpson Millar LLP, who lodged the ‘personal injury’ claim last week say: ‘Manchester United failed to protect the claimant from abuse while he was under the club’s care and supervision.’
Abuse Law Expert at Simpson Millar, Kate Hall, said: ‘Our client has shown enormous courage in coming forward after so many years.
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‘He, like many survivors, has had to relive incredibly painful memories in order to seek justice.
‘While Manchester United contributed to the Sheldon Review, its approach to this legal claim has been disappointing. Survivors deserve more than sympathy—they deserve meaningful engagement and accountability.’
The Football Association commissioned the Sheldon Review in 2016 as an independent report into historical child sex abuse in English football from 1970 to 2025.
The report was published in 2021, with Manchester United submitting relevant information after a request to every club in the Premier League and EFL.
Watts was not named, but a ‘caretaker who is now deceased’ was mentioned as the subject of multiple allegations.
The report said: ‘The club was made aware in 2016 of allegations that in the 1980s the caretaker had made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature, physically pulled an individual into an office against his will, followed an individual into a sauna at the training ground and wrestled with him,” the report read.
‘There was also an allegation that the caretaker had tried to touch another individual inappropriately in the showers; that the caretaker was referred to by youth team players as a “pervert”. There was a further allegation that the caretaker had tried to touch another boy, and when confronted had said that “I’m only messing, shut up”.
‘The club referred the matter to the FA in 2016. The club has discovered that there was an investigation into the caretaker in the 1980s (not related to these particular allegations), and he was redeployed from the club’s training ground to the club’s stadium. It is not known what the reason was for his redeployment.’
The allegations against Watts became public in 2019, with Manchester United responding in a statement, which read: ‘We have cooperated fully with the Sheldon Review in an effort to make sure we were as comprehensive on this important matter as we could be.
‘This involved conducting multiple interviews as part of our wide-ranging enquiries pursuant to the review. These included a former employee who had conducted the disciplinary process against the former caretaker in the 1980s and other current and former employees who worked at the club in the 70s and 80s.
‘All interviewees provided their full cooperation and information relating to the former caretaker has been included in Manchester United’s submissions to the review.
‘Identifying facts from historical allegations is never an easy process and their report will include any issues relating to Manchester United that are considered relevant by the review team.’