Crewe youth coach 'abused boy over three-year period' court told

Paul McCann, who coached Crewe’s under-16s, is alleged to have groomed the teenager by showering him with gifts, taking him on football tours and letting him drink alcohol under-age on holidays.

McCann, 57, formerly of Crewe, denies six specimen charges of indecently assaulting the teenager between 1987 and 1990, when the alleged victim was aged 15 to 17.

On the opening day of the trial at Chester crown court on Monday, the prosecutor Owen Edwards said the allegations dated back to when the accused was in his late 20s and a part-time coach in Crewe’s youth system.

“Paul McCann was coaching the Crewe under-16 football team and he would quite regularly have young boys staying at his house in order to attend football matches and training,” Edwards said.

“[McCann] was very methodical and calculated and presumably enjoyed the risk,” he went on.

“To the outside world, Paul McCann was a decent young man … sadly it was too good to be true and his interest was sexual.”

A number of former Crewe players from the late 80s are expected to give evidence at the trial, which is likely to last until the middle of next week.