Matt Le Tissier claims he received 'naked massages' from former Southampton coach

FORMER Southampton and England footballer Matt Le Tissier has said he was given a "naked massage" by a coach at the centre of sex abuse allegations.

Posted Wednesday, December 07, 2016 by Dailystar.co.uk

Bob Higgins – a former youth officer at the club – is accused of historical sex abuse against young players, a claim he has always denied.

Mr Le Tissier, making it clear he was not abused, believes his own experiences were "very wrong" and that the recent scandal has "not come as a big surprise".

Describing the incident, he told the BBC: "Everyone was kind of naked and getting thrown on this bed... and a very quick massage.

Matt Le Tissier claims he received 'naked massages' from former Southampton coach
CLAIMS: The Southampton legend says he received 'naked massages'

DENIAL: Higgins has denied all allegations

"It was uncomfortable.. it's very, very wrong for a start – looking back on it, you think it's wrong but as a young boy you thought 'is this normal'?

"It's pretty disgusting. What went on is not normal behaviour. When you hear the stories of naked soapy massages, hairy bum competitions... you look back at it now and think 'hang on, what was going on?'.

"Obviously boys talk at that age, they take the Mickey, it kind of gets covered up as a bit of banter at that stage. But as you grow into an adult, you look at it and think 'that's not right'."

Mr Le Tissier added: "I would like to think the bravery of the boys that have come out will encourage everyone else who experienced those kind of things."

Higgins has denied all allegations and was acquitted of sexual abuse in 1992.

The FA has launched an internal review into historical abuse allegations.

In a statement, it said: "The FA has today published the full terms of reference for the review into issues arising from the recent press reports relating to allegations of non-recent child sexual abuse in football."