DANNY MURPHY: Dario Gradi will be haunted by his mistakes but he was a decent man to me at Crewe

Many people are aware Crewe Alexandra was my first club. I joined at the age of 12, graduated through the youth ranks and eventually became a player good enough to be signed by Liverpool.

I knew and still know many of the names mentioned in the Sheldon report into football’s historical child sex abuse scandal.

Dario Gradi was my first-team manager and mentor. I was briefly trained by the notorious coach Barry Bennell and once stayed at his house, though mercifully wasn’t one of his victims.

Crewe were my first club and I became good enough while playing there to sign for Liverpool

Dario Gradi was my manager and mentor – he made me a better footballer and person

I’m still in touch with some of the guys who were abused. Steve Walters, who has spoken publicly, is a friend. The whole thing is heartbreaking.

I have supported charities that have helped the survivors and believe no stone must be left unturned to ensure we protect future generations of children.

Clearly there were huge safeguarding shortfalls at Crewe and other clubs, something that we can all learn from. It must be difficult for outsiders to understand how a man, even someone as evil and manipulative as Bennell, could fool children, parents and club staff so they were unaware of abuse being inflicted under their noses.

But I was there and had no idea. Do you think my parents would have let me join the club otherwise? Of course not. Would I have stayed at his house? Not bloody likely.

It is chilling to think I once spent a night at Barry Bennell’s house when I was at Crewe 

As it happens, nothing untoward happened during the night of my only visit to Bennell’s home.

I thought it was a fun evening spent with some of my team-mates. Even that is chilling in hindsight. Bennell was such a master of grooming, he would select victims carefully and leave others alone to maintain the veneer of normality.

Crewe have dealt badly with the situation over the years. Maybe they were concerned about legal repercussions? It doesn’t matter. The priority should always been looking after the survivors.

In the 1990s, the police questioned me and other players about Bennell and it is disgraceful it has taken nearly 30 years for progress to be made and the Sheldon report to come out. I want to talk about Dario. It’s right he is held to account because of what went on at the club while he was manager and he has apologised for not doing more to protect his players.

I’m sure the knowledge he brought Bennell to the club and didn’t do enough to stop children being abused will haunt Dario for the rest of his life but he doesn’t deserve to be tarnished with the same brush as Bennell himself.

Dario will be haunted by what has happened for the rest of his life and he is a decent man

I can only speak from my experiences of him, knowing him over many years and, regardless of the reaction I get, I want to say on record that I regard him as a decent and caring man.

I have spent hours and hours of my life with Dario. He made me a better footballer and person.

Without his influence and guidance, I dread to think where I might be today. I wouldn’t have made it as a professional sportsman.

I stayed at Dario’s house many times with other young players and he was always the perfect host.

Dario’s actions might have been neglectful but that doesn’t mean he should be seen as evil

It was a safe and enjoyable environment, a view that would be echoed by the team-mates I stayed with. Dario is not an abuser and I believe if he’d known about Bennell’s activities, he would have been appalled and acted upon it.

Bennell is the real perpetrator. I am a father and can’t imagine if it had been one of my kids who had suffered at his hands.

He had a charismatic personality and could get players to do what he wanted on the training pitch. It is only with the passage of time I fully realise what he was capable of.

He was manipulative enough to convince parents he could be trusted with their kids so it’s credible to me that Dario just didn’t realise what he was capable of. That might have been neglectful but doesn’t mean he deserves to be regarded as evil.