Darcy Wells’ other folks seek recordsdata from: How could perchance well this earn took place at Chelsea?

Eight years ago, an eleven-year-old lady referred to as Darcy Wells trundled off a taking half in field at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground and regarded as much as witness one of her heroes standing by the touchline.

‘John Terry,’ she smiles. ‘He in most cases got here over to scrutinize training. He pulled me to the aspect and said he could perchance well gape me taking half in for Chelsea one day. He said I carried out in actuality effectively and that he cherished my football boots, which had my title engraved. Jose Mourinho watched me prepare once as effectively.’

After spending her earliest years in football at Arsenal, Darcy moved to Chelsea’s centre of excellence, where she harboured aspirations to a profession in females’s football.

‘I in truth factor in I had the functionality to be an England and Chelsea first-teamer,’ Darcy says. ‘I become a centre ahead. I old to scrutinize movies continuously, of your entire high strikers. I quiet love Lionel Messi, he’s from one other planet. Within the sessions I would be fully racy about football, I become as correct as any one. But then all the pieces modified.’ 

Shivering and cowering in the alleyway of her family home, Darcy is now 18 years old and her lifestyles is an altogether diversified ride. It’s April 2017, and it is the 2nd time now we earn organized to meet. On the first occasion, she spent the previous evening with website online visitors and did no longer return home for the meeting in the morning. 

The 2nd meet is additionally unsuccessful. Stripped of her self-self perception and composure, Darcy cannot hang to witness or narrate. It’s a haunting and unsettling checklist, as she paces the avenue and placement visitors down into her mobile mobile phone along with her hood down.

Collectively along with her other folks, Andy and Donna, we agree to rupture the interview. In February this year, we’re invited support to their home: Darcy is able to chat.

Walking into the Wells family, the confident and level-headed younger lady sitting sooner than me is scarcely fair like the shell of an particular individual encountered a year earlier.

Darcy now has a baby lady of her delight in, River, and she or he speaks with eloquence.

Darcy explains: ‘I’ve learn and seen the mettlesome men who got here ahead to chat about their experiences below the paedophile Barry Bennell. And I admired the braveness and persistence of the Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko in stressful the Football Affiliation.

‘I’m hoping we’re in actuality at a stage where younger females will likely be heard and revered. Until we discuss about it, things don’t swap. The more these that discuss out, it helps younger of us in the long term.’

Her other folks, who delight in a ground company, are supportive of her decision to narrate out.

Darcy’s mom Donna says: ‘It’s about diversified of us no longer having to feel anxious, to clutch it’s OK to come ahead. I would hate some other folks to battle through what now we earn.’

Darcy’s story begins on the taking half in fields at Cobham, where her Chelsea Foundation coach Shane Hughes first became her mentor and then her tormentor.

Darcy explains: ‘He become very right. Every person cherished him. For other folks that didn’t know what he had performed, you have to perchance whisper he’s a obedient guy.’

So, what did he terminate? ‘He started off by touching me in training inappropriately. That’s how it started. He would switch of us into their positions and it felt as if he would walk away his fingers on me for too long.’

Almost right this moment after, he took Darcy’s mobile mobile phone amount. The exchanges became flirtatious and Hughes then despatched naked photos.

‘I become jumpy when I first obtained the photos. I become 12, I didn’t in actuality seek recordsdata from it, they earn been particular,’ she says.

The photos earn been found on Darcy’s mobile phone by a schoolteacher. ‘I become exhibiting my trainer my new pair of football boots. It become a Blackberry and I scrolled along. It felt instinctive, as if I wished someone to assist.’

The college straight told the police. Inside 24 hours, Hughes had resigned from Chelsea. Yet the effects for Darcy continued.

Ahead of the photos earn been found, the pair had exchanged messages for ‘loads of months’, Darcy says.

‘He made threats to me. He threatened me at training. He pulled me to 1 aspect to negate, « For other folks that command anybody… ».’

Did she return particular photos to him? ‘Sure, it become the vogue he become stressful and in actuality aggressive in inquiring for them. If I didn’t send them, he become threatening to come to my home. He said he would come to my home and resolve me away. That’s why I despatched them.

‘This went on for a couple of months, your entire time he become employed as a Chelsea coach. I become too anxious to express anybody, my other folks, my website online visitors. He referred to as it our secret.’

Almost right this moment sufficient, Hughes prolonged his scrutinize, taking an curiosity in Darcy’s older sister, Paris, who become sixteen on the time.

Darcy grimaces: ‘He asked for my sister’s amount, and I gave it to him. That become spherical the same time. He made it seem normal, but I started to attract shut. Once I confirmed my trainer my football boots, I scrolled on motive to the checklist of him on my mobile phone so that they could perchance gape him.’

When the photos earn been found by Darcy’s trainer, Hughes sought frantically to quilt his tracks and started with emotional blackmail. ‘He despatched a text to me asserting how his mum needs him,’ unearths Darcy. ‘I become 12. He become in his twenties.’

Hughes, now 33, become handed a police warning and his title become positioned on the sex offenders’ register for 2 years.

Within the loft of the family’s home in Biggin Hill, south-east London, are the remnants of Darcy’s childhood. She retains these boots that John Terry admired, as effectively as Fifty three more pairs that she labored her manner through. She has kept her Chelsea equipment stashed away up there, too.

‘I cannot let walk of it,’ she says. ‘Strikers will know what I imply when I whisper I leave out that feeling of scoring a draw. But in most cases I factual feel overcome and I cannot play. It’s all the pieces that surrounds the sport, all the pieces that it has been associated to in my lifestyles.’

Yet for Darcy, the photos earn been handiest the starting up of her combat. Previously the lifestyles and soul of the community, she started to endure mental health difficulties, she became isolated at college and started self-harming.

After Hughes departed, Darcy remained at Chelsea firstly. 

Donna explains: ‘He had resigned. Darcy said she quiet wished to walk down there and it become a spacious membership and a spacious alternative she did no longer want to lose. But as she went down there, things started to walk to pot and worse. It all blew up. It spiralled out of buy an eye on.’ 

Inside six months, Darcy become admitted to London’s Maudsley sanatorium, the capable mental health training institute in the nation.

Whereas in sanatorium, Darcy presupposed to her nurses — and later to her family — that she had been repeatedly raped by Hughes on the Chelsea training ground.

The police and CPS introduced the case to trial in October 2015, where Darcy gave evidence leisurely a camouflage. The jury is reported to earn heard a recording of a police interview.

Hughes admitted that the ‘texting obtained out of buy an eye on’ and earn turn into flirtatious. He additionally said he texted the 12-year-old lady out of doors of working hours for the ‘ego boost’. Yet a stressful and emotional five-day trial culminated in Hughes being cleared of the rape charges.

Afterwards, Darcy’s mental health deteriorated extra. ‘I didn’t earn a childhood afterwards,’ she says. ‘It ruined my lifestyles.

‘In school, I become for your entire high sets but I could perchance well no longer take care of it after that. I left college after Year 7 in actuality. It all went downhill.’

She has no longer sat any GCSEs or A-levels. ‘As a teen, I become factual at home. I didn’t in actuality earn website online visitors. I wasn’t functioning. I become in sanatorium at one point for three months.’

In some unspecified time in the future of her teenage years, Darcy has made repeated suicide makes an try. On one occasion, her mom walked into her bedroom at their Biggin Hill home to leer Darcy inserting. There earn been loads of makes an try at an overdose. Existence became a everlasting battle for Darcy. For her other folks, there become unimaginable fear when they could return home to search out their daughter had disappeared and left leisurely a goodbye existing.

‘It impacted us all,’ says Donna. ‘It become devastating. You cannot factor in what now we earn been through. When a mother or father takes their child wherever, you seek recordsdata from it to be protected, but a spacious membership fancy that — certainly.’ 

For Chelsea, here’s a deeply unsettling story. Here is no longer a relic of the Seventies. It took place factual seven years ago and correct through the Roman Abramovich generation.

The membership, it have to be said, earn been supportive after the photos earn been found on her mobile phone at college.

Chelsea made makes an try to buy her engaged with football. They gave dispensation where Darcy did no longer feel ready to encourage training (she would on the entire endure flashbacks), allowed her to prepare with the Below 17 age community and additionally held a form of meetings with the family, as effectively as liaising with the authorities.

The Premier League and FA whisper they earn been happy with Chelsea’s handling of the case however the family feel that the membership must quiet earn had in attach a particular welfare or safeguarding officer dedicated to the women’ youthful age-community teams.

Chelsea point out that they fulfilled your entire Premier League safeguarding criteria, but an additional welfare officer become employed for the younger women folk age teams in the aftermath of the photos being found, whereas they’ve additionally introduced loads of welfare officers more formally into the safeguarding assignment. 

Yet when it got here to the trial, the family earn been left with the impact the membership had let them down. Two aged Chelsea workers, Emma Barnes and Bridget Higgs, who labored on the membership on the time of the abuse, took to the stand to present evidence that supported Hughes’s defence.

Nevertheless, Chelsea point out that two glossy workers no longer handiest refused to protect Hughes but additionally gave witness statements to enhance his prosecution.

Regardless of Chelsea’s overtures, the family terminate no longer feel that the membership supplied sufficient toughen either correct through or after the trial and which will likely be a fundamental aspect of their decision to narrate out now.

Making an try to get a swap of ambiance, Darcy left Chelsea in 2014 (a year sooner than the trial) and joined Charlton.

Chelsea made a couple of calls to register after she stopped attending training, but soon gave up. Within the aftermath of the trial, where the extent of Darcy’s mental health struggles earn been laid naked, Chelsea’s contact dried up.

The membership felt it could well perchance well be defective to manufacture unsolicited contact with the family after preliminary makes an try earn been rebuffed.

‘I feel they’ll earn performed more after the trial,’ Darcy says. ‘I am no longer inquiring for lots — factual register steadily to witness how I am and if they’ll assist.

Donna says: ‘It did no longer feel as if they earn been there and glossy for Darcy. It felt fancy they earn been there for Chelsea. It felt as if they didn’t care. What I get tense is that they’ll act this form… but if it had been their child, it could well perchance well earn been diversified.’

The FA earn been made mindful of the case in the earliest stages, handing a lifestyles ban to Hughes. Yet they made no contact with the Wells family to present toughen.

As an alternative, they are saying this become the responsibility of kid’s products and companies, the police and the respective agencies eager. Chelsea earn pledged to this newspaper that they’ll meet the family, if they wish, and provide toughen. The FA thunder their door is birth.

Hughes, in the period in-between, has since modified his title by deed poll to Shane McNally and declined to comment.

The FA’s QC-led inquiry into historic abuse has a breadth of 1970-2005 and the family give it some thought have to be prolonged.

Donna says: ‘Strip it down and my 12-year-old daughter suffered abuse in 2011 at a Premier League football membership. Positively there are grounds for that to be broadened. Darcy presentations why.’

Now 19, Darcy is in her handiest attach for pretty some time. She is settled with the father of the toddler, and sooner than her pregnancy she labored for the Chartwell Most cancers Have faith and organised fund-raising events.

She rocks toddler River in her cradle, exchanging giggles, and laughter breaks out in the lounge. Here is a elated family for the first time in an extended time.

Darcy has hopes of returning to football. ‘I cannot let walk of football,’ she says. ‘Tottenham are the group I toughen. Dad has season tickets and Harry Kane is clearly my hero. I’m hoping to walk to trials at golf equipment in June. 

‘Crystal Palace earn been taking a behold at me for a couple of years so I could perchance well also work to trials there. They contacted me final year, but then I become pregnant. They said the door become birth.

‘I am so elated with the vogue the sport has come on for females. We are getting better recognition, better money, and rightly so. Manchester United are sooner or later on board, which is edifying for the profile.

‘I in most cases scrutinize Chelsea Ladies folk on the tv. But I factual have, « That have to be me ». There are times I cannot address that. It factual runs through my thoughts… « I would be there, taking half in, scoring targets, gleaming now ».’

She pauses, then says: ‘I terminate no longer want to position someone off from going to Chelsea, though. It’s a edifying thing to play for a spacious membership. I loved it to originate off. After which once it started going down, it became diversified and I could perchance well no longer ride it any longer.

‘But I am no longer ashamed to narrate out and I’m hoping females in the game admire me for talking up.

‘Younger females have to know they’ll narrate out, be heard and that they don’t seem like by myself.’

On Wednesday night, a Chelsea membership spokesman said: ‘We are fully committed to setting up certain the safety and wellbeing of all childhood and younger other folks that are in our care or attending our premises. Their welfare is of paramount importance.

‘The safeguarding insurance policies and procedures in attach on the membership, and on the Chelsea Foundation, are tough, repeatedly reviewed and audited steadily per annum by the Premier League.

‘We are confident that on this case, we could perchance well no longer earn performed the rest more than become undertaken on the time. Nevertheless, we’re consistently certain to learn, to entire the gleaming thing and to earn the handiest programs in attach.

‘We supplied Darcy and her family our fleshy toughen and assist on the time and afterwards, and can proceed to entire so.

‘We sought to buy in contact with Darcy after she left the membership, and despite our makes an try to entire so it became obvious that here’s no longer one thing that become wished on the time.’