Thread by @shaunjlawson

THREAD: Dario Gradi. Just what the heck is going on here? Why is he being protected?

The FA have confirmed that he's effectively banned for life. Yesterday, its Director of Legal and Governance said:

“I think where someone’s removed from football office for safeguarding reasons, that will be because we have we have seen that there’s been an assessment that that particular individual could potentially cause or pose a risk of harm to children".

Yet they won't provide any more specifics. That is quite unfathomable in circumstances as grave as these. Circumstances in which:

1. Gradi “did not consider a person putting their hands down another’s trousers to be an assault”. 🤮🤮🤮

2. Gradi did not act against Barry Bennell when allegations of abuse were made about him.

3. In 2003, Bennell described the idea that Gradi did not know what was going on as 'ridiculous'.

4. Gradi didn't act against Eddie Heath either.

I will always believe that people in football - including the FA - knew what was going on. At Crewe, in particular. And I'll tell you why.

There was a time when Dario Gradi was a hero of mine. His achievements at Crewe were utterly extraordinary.

His budget was nothing. They kept developing and selling quality players and somehow surviving in the second tier while playing great, open football. It was one of the more remarkable achievements in the last 25 years in English football.

Given his accomplishments - taking Crewe two levels above their natural position, and keeping them there on a shoestring - you'd expect bigger clubs would've wanted him. But no-one ever did.

And you'd also have imagined he'd have been the perfect FA Technical Director.

He was linked with that post repeatedly: perfectly logically too. English football was all thud and blunder; Gradi's record with young players was incredible, and his approach cerebral and technical.

Yet they gave it to Howard Wilkinson instead?

At the time, I was baffled. Why was such an incredibly successful manager not pursued for any bigger jobs?

Then I discovered something. Apparently, there was a 'whispering campaign' against Gradi. It didn't take a genius to work out what that meant.

Why did nobody act given that 'whispering campaign'? Where did that campaign come from? Clearly, plenty of people in football had heard about it... yet nothing was done at all?

I think it's obvious. People knew. And did nothing.

The reason they did nothing - the reason nobody will tell us why he's been banned for life - is, presumably, no absolute open and shut evidence. Just utterly grim circumstancial evidence.

Those poor, poor boys. This was rife at so many clubs: including under Kit Carson, who probably did more than anyone else in overseeing Norwich's greatest ever era.

So this isn't me picking on Crewe or something. It's me saying "people knew. Shame on them".

Hear hear. It's monstrous that it hasn't already happened.

https://twitter.com/OffsideTrust/status/1372472506683166724

cc @DTathletic