UK Broughton in October 2012. Child sexual abuse survivor On 16 November 2016, former Crewe defender Andy Woodward revealed that he had been a victim of child sexual abuse by former football coach Barry Bennell (convicted as a paedophile in 1998) at the club in the 1980s. Subsequently, other victims contacted the police, and on 22 November, The Guardian reported that Walters had been another of Bennell's victims. In Manchester on 5 December 2016, Walters was one of five abuse victims at the launch of an organisation, the Offside Trust, to support player victims of abuse and their families. With Woodward (until he resigned on 27 January 2017) and Chris Unsworth, Walters was one of the Trust's directors. In early 2017, Walters (who now runs a cleaning company) repeatedly bemoaned the lack of support expressed by current professional players to abuse victims, describing it as a "deafening silence" and "shocking and hurtful". It was also reported he had been on a course of counselling at the Priory provided by the Professional Footballers' Association. Walters had been interviewed several times by police in 1994 after Bennell's initial conviction for child sexual abuse in the United States, but denied that he had been abused, fearing that he would lose his career as a result. On 28 February 2019, Steve Walters accused Crewe of showing "no humanity" and "victim blaming" in a bid to avoid compensation payouts, and of claiming he had waited too long to report abuse. The club said Walters's claims included (unspecified) "fundamental inaccuracies". Honours Crewe Alexandra Football League Fourth Division third-place promotion winner: 1988–89 Rhyl Welsh Premier League: 2003–04 Welsh Cup: 2003–04 Welsh League Cup: 2003–04 FAW Premier Cup: runner-up 2003–04 Rhos Aelwyd FAW Trophy: 2007–08 Welsh National League Premier Division Cup: 2008–09 Welsh National League: 2009–10 Individual Welsh Premier League Team of the Year: 2003–04 Cymru Alliance Manager of the Season: 2010–11 References External links 1972 births Living people Footballers from Plymouth, Devon English footballers Association football midfielders Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Kidsgrove Athletic F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Rhyl F.C. players English football managers