A FOOTBALL coach who abused young players at his boys’ club has been brought to justice two decades after he was first reported to police.

John O’Neil, 52, placed an advert in a local paper saying he was setting up a football club and wanted new members.

A number of boys aged around 12 signed up and began regularly attending his coaching sessions in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire.

At one training night O’Neil, who did not hold any official coaching badges, told team members they needed new strips and would have to be measured privately with him.

He told them to strip off in a cramped toilet cubicle before using a piece of tape to measure their naked bodies.

The boys were left embarrassed by what had happened and reported the incident to their horrified parents before police were called.

But, even though statements were taken in 1997, a report was never sent to prosecutors and the case shelved.

However, the launch of a recent investigation into historic abuse at football clubs led to the case being re-opened.

The previous statements were looked at and a report was sent to prosecutors who decided to put O’Neil in the dock.

O’Neil, of Newmilns, Ayrshire, has now appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted two charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices against two 12-year-old boys between March and December 1997 at various addresses in East Kilbride.

Not guilty pleas were accepted to a further two charges relating to a further two boys from the same period.

Depute fiscal Sandra Craig said: “The offences date back some when the accused advertised in this local newspaper that he was starting up a new football team and intended to be the manager and coach of the team.

“It would appear the accused did not have any formal training and was self taught.

“On a particular occasion the accused indicated that new strips were required and told the boys they were going to be measured individually and in private.

“They were taken to a changing area to do that and asked to take off tracksuit bottoms, they were embarrassed by this before he started measuring them in the cramped cubicle.

“The accused was interviewed in respect of this and said he did not have any recollection of any measuring.”

Ms Craig added: “This all came to light because there was an operation in the recent past about local coaching in Scottish football and this incident was further investigated within the last year.

“The boys had given a statement to the police some 20 years ago and the accused now has a conviction which post-dates this.

“Further information came to light as a result of the recent investigation which led to a report being sent to the procurator fiscal, no report was sent 20 years ago.

“He was interviewed and said he could not remember the incident in question.”

Sheriff Robert Weir deferred sentence for reports and placed him on the sex offenders’ register.

O’Neil declined to comment.

In July it emerged more than 150 people had reported being the victims of historical child sexual abuse within Scottish football.

A major Police Scotland investigation was launched in November last year after the force received reports of “non-recent child abuse within football”.

Since then, the force said it had made a total of 11 arrests.

Similar allegations of sexual abuse have been made by former players across the UK.

Last year the Scottish Football Association set up an independent review tasked with examining child protection “processes and procedures” in place both currently and historically in Scottish football.