Celtic Football Club has agreed to a five-figure, out-of-court settlement with a survivor of historical sexual abuse, swiftly concluding a legal battle that was launched just last month.
The claimant, whose identity is protected by law, filed the lawsuit alleging he was sexually assaulted in 1989 by Frank Cairney, a former coach at the Celtic Boys Club. While the football club initially denied liability for the incident, they have now opted to resolve the case financially.
For the survivor, the settlement brings a sense of closure to a nearly 40-year private struggle. He described the enduring trauma of the abuse as a "paralysing feeling of shame," emphasizing that the mental toll far outlasts the physical acts.
"When people think of abuse they often think of one act that happened one time, or that it happened so long ago you should just be able to move past it but it simply isn't like getting injured – you can't just limp on until you get better," the survivor shared. "It is a strange, confusing and angering feeling – you know what happened wasn't your fault yet at the same time you feel responsible for it."
The man also revealed that when he initially reported Cairney's actions to authority figures decades ago, his pleas for help were entirely ignored. The recent settlement, he noted, finally gives him the validation he was denied as a youth.
"In terms of the settlement, I feel like I've finally been heard because shortly after the attacks I spoke to multiple authority figures yet no-one listened or took meaningful action," he added, encouraging other survivors never to give up their pursuit of justice.
Richard Pitts, a historical abuse specialist and partner at the Digby Brown law firm who represented the survivor, commended his client's unwavering perseverance.
Cairney, now 90 years old, has a deeply documented history of predation. The former coach from North Lanarkshire was sentenced to four years in prison in February 2019 after being convicted on nine counts of abusing young players during the 1980s. A subsequent hearing also determined he had indecently assaulted three additional boys between 1978 and 1989.
This latest payout follows a massive wave of litigation resolved last year, wherein Celtic paid out more than £1 million to settle claims from 24 victims of historical abuse. Historically, Celtic FC had attempted to distance itself from the systemic scandals by arguing that the boys club operated as a completely "separate entity."