Andy Carroll says well-known footballers confided that they suffered sexual abuse

Andy Carroll says well-known footballers have confided in him that they suffered sexual abuse by men. Asked by Piers Morgan whether those players had gone through a similar experience with another man, he replied: “Yes.” He says he received calls of thanks and hundreds of messages after discussing these confidences in his book.

The former England international, who won nine caps for England, also spoke about his own sexual assault. “There are some things you can’t get over, and I will never get over that,” he said. He also told Piers Morgan that the experience had “eaten away at me for a long time”. He says he now feels supported by the public, with people approaching him at matches to offer kind words.

Carroll said he disclosed the details of what he describes as a traumatic assault in his book Owning It at the last moment, after lengthy conversations with his publisher. He placed the incident on the night after a Newcastle United match: his friend, who had come to his home to watch a boxing match, allegedly tried to force sexual contact while Carroll was waking after drinking. Carroll later identified the “famous friend” as choreographer and dancer Kevin Adams.

After learning that Kevin Adams’s name appeared in publicly accessible court documents, Carroll disclosed the identity of the man he accuses of assaulting him. The man was placed on the sex offenders’ register and barred from entering the village where Carroll lived. He tried to argue that Carroll had assaulted him; the judge replied: “You made up a literally incredible story in which you presented yourself as the victim. In reality, you have come to believe your own lies.”

Carroll said that until the matter came to light two weeks earlier, he was still wondering when the name would become public. He described the wait as “really very difficult”. Still playing for Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League South, he says the support he has received helps him speak about what he went through.