Gywn Williams: ex-Chelsea coach banned for life over racist bullying

A former Chelsea coach has been banned for life from football after he was accused of racist bullying.

Gwyn Williams, 76, has been subject to the ban from the FA since 2019 but details of the sanction have only just emerged after The Athletic obtained FA safeguarding reports. The FA has a policy of not commenting on, or releasing details of, safeguarding cases.

Two years ago, Chelsea agreed to pay six-figure sums to four former youth players who had brought a legal claim for experiencing racial abuse and bullying at the hands of coaches during the 1980s and 1990s.

Chelsea apologised in 2019 after the children’s charity Barnardo’s investigated the claims and found “overwhelming information” that a member of staff subjected young players to “bullying and racially abusive behaviour”.

One of the former youth players stated that the racist abuse at Chelsea started at the age of 12 or 13 with Williams using phrases such as: “You little black bastard, you c***, you little w**.”

Williams was a prominent figure at Chelsea for 27 years, and was credited was discovering John Terry, the centre back who went on to captain the club and England. Williams was assistant manager to Claudio Ranieri in the early 2000s and a senior scout under José Mourinho before joining Leeds United in 2006 as their technical director.

It has also emerged that Graham Rix, the former England midfielder who was a coach at Chelsea, is serving a lifetime ban from under-18 girls’ football as a result of his 1999 conviction for two offences of underage sex with a girl of 15.

Rix, 66, was also alleged to have made racially offensive remarks and taken part in physical bullying but the 2019 FA investigation decided there was not enough evidence to substantiate the charge.

In 2018 the two former coaches’ lawyer, Eddie Johns, said: “Our clients deny all and any allegations of racial or other abuse.

“These allegations were the subject of a thorough investigation by specialist officers of the Metropolitan Police Service. The MPS did not consider there was sufficient evidence even to report it to the Crown Prosecution Service. Our clients cooperated with that investigation.”

The FA’s policy on safeguarding cases says: “Publication of details can have serious consequences. This includes re-traumatising victims and/or causing them to re-live harmful abusive experiences.

“In addition, vigilantism can have harmful effects on innocent people connected to those involved in safeguarding cases.”