'The FA didn't stop him': The long road to justice for Bob Higgins' abuse victims

Cultivation of father-figure role allowed coach to get away with sexual abuse of boys for decades

• Higgins guilty of 45 counts of indecent assault

Bob Higgins was the star-maker, the super-coach. He worked with the likes of the former England great Alan Shearer, the Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier and the ex-Chelsea skipper Dennis Wise when they were promising juniors, hungry for success.

He was admired - loved is not too strong - by the impressionable schoolboys who believed he was the gatekeeper to the world of football. They were "Bob's boys", hanging on his every word, following him around Pied Piper-like.