Gareth

A FOOTBALL league assistant referee who preyed on teenage girls has been jailed for 13-and-a-half years.

Gareth Viccars, 47, was locked up behind bars for a string of child sexual abuse offences involving three 15-year-old schoolgirls.

Viccars previously pleaded guilty to 16 counts, including sexual communications with a child, meeting with a child following sexual grooming, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

The offences spanned three years between November 2021 and October 2024 and involved three girls aged 15, Snaresbrook Crown Court previously heard.

On Thursday, Viccars was jailed for 13 and a half years with a further three and a half years on extended licence at the same court.

Viccars was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Addressing the referee, Judge Caroline English said: “You did deliberately target these three young victims and you did so on account of their ages at the material time.

“I am therefore quite satisfied that in all three cases you preyed upon young women that were vulnerable.

Viccars was an assistant referee at the time of offending.

He has worked as an official for League One clashes in the EFL alongside his day job as an estate agent. 

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the organisation responsible for managing all Premier League and EFL matches across England, said he was suspended “as soon as the allegations came to light”.

Viccars was not considered for appointments after his initial suspension.

The PGMOL has since removed him from the organisation’s list, it is believed.

It is understood the former assistant referee did not officiate during the last season.

The judge said that despite Viccars’s guilty pleas and expressions of remorse, there remained a lack of acknowledgment from the defendant that he had “a sexual interest in female children”.

This interest was clear from the contents of messages sent to his victims and a statement from Viccars’s ex-girlfriend, which said he used to ask her to dress up in school uniform.

Viccars, who appeared in the dock wearing a dark green sweatshirt, nodded as the judge read out her sentencing remarks.

The prosecutor Charlotte Newell KC told the court Viccars had met his victims online through the messaging app Snapchat, telling one girl that talking on WhatsApp was “too risky”.

She said Viccars had lied and told one of his victims he was a teacher when they first started communicating and was aware that she was 15 years old.

The court heard he had abused another of his victims over a period of several years – taking her to football matches and told others he was “mentoring” her.

A scrapbook chronicling the two’s “relationship” that was made by the teenager, and given to Viccars, was handed to police and formed part of the evidence against him, the prosecutor said.

In court, Viccars watched the victim read out an impact statement during which she said he had been her “world” and that she had trusted him “completely” for almost three years.

Addressing her abuser, she said he had won her over with “kind words” and “attention” and had isolated her “in plain sight”.

“Now I know what you really wanted was someone young enough to manipulate,” she added.

After the sentencing, the Met Police said they believed there may be other victims of Viccars as he had been “spamming hundreds of girls on Snapchat”.

DCI Ross Morrell, who led the Met’s investigation, said: “He began with a profile of ‘sorry I think I’ve added the wrong person’, and then he would go in to lie, manipulate them, and then go on to abuse them.

“If anyone thinks they’ve been a victim, then please contact 101, reference this appeal.

“You will be entitled to specialist care, specialist advice, and you will be believed.”

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Men’s team manager Arne Slot said Beard “did great things for this football club”.

“I think the Melwood staff and everyone that worked with him liked him so much – and that’s probably even a more important legacy to leave behind than the trophies you win,” he added.

“The person you are is always more important than what you’ve won. But in his situation, both things were combined: so successful as a manager and a great human being.

“It’s not only that he gets all the respect he deserves here at Liverpool but I think all around women’s football.”

Liverpool Women managing director Andy O’Boyle also paid tribute to Beard, saying: “On behalf of everyone at Liverpool Football Club, I’d just like to extend our greatest condolences to Matt’s family; his wife Debbie, his children Harry and Ellie, and his wider family and friends.

“It has been a really sad time for everyone. You have seen how the club and football have come together, and we extend our sympathies to Matt’s family and friends at this time.

“Matt has been an iconic figure in the women’s game. Obviously winning two WSL titles with Liverpool and then also getting promoted from the Championship up to the WSL. You can see over the years the success he has brought to the club.

“Not just the success on the pitch, the success off the pitch as well in terms of the people, the players, the staff, colleagues within the game – you can see how much love and joy he brought to Liverpool, the football club and also to women’s football and wider football.”

Gareth Thomas has opened up about some of the horrific abuse he has faced from strangers on the street. 

Back in 2019, the former Welsh rugby captain revealed that he was HIV-positive after a tabloid threatened to out his status.

“Now that you have that information, it makes me extremely vulnerable, but it does not make me weak,” he said in a video uploaded on X/Twitter. “I choose to fight to educate and break the stigma around this subject.”

Since that fateful day, Thomas has fervently used his platform to shatter misconceptions and debunk harmful myths about the condition, earning praise from fans, LGBTQIA+ organisations and other advocacy groups.

But despite his incredible contributions to the rugby world, queer community and HIV/AIDS awareness, the 51-year-old has continued to experience hate from bigoted trolls.

During a recent appearance on Bryony Gordon’s The Life of Bryony podcast, Thomas recalled a harrowing interaction he had with “two young lads” who spat on him on the street.

“I won’t sit here and be big guy and say it doesn’t hurt. So the two young lads who walked past spat at me and called me an AIDS spreader,” he recalled.

However, instead of hurling his own set of insults or getting physical, Thomas killed the two individuals with kindness.

“I just stopped, and I opened up my arms. So they walked past me. One spat at my chest, one spat at my feet. They walked past me, they waited for a reaction, and I just opened up my arms, and it kind of put them off because that was completely different,” he continued.

“And then they started calling me names. I was like, ‘Do you want a hug?’ And they were like, ‘We’re not going to have a hug off you. You got effing AIDS.’ And I’m like, ‘Do you want to hug, boys? Do you want to hug?’”

The talented athlete went on to say that he walked away from the interaction feeling that he had won, adding that they wanted an angry reaction from him.

“They wanted confirmation that I was a bad person. And I refused to give the confirmation that I was a bad person,” he continued. 

Elsewhere in his interview, Thomas opened up about the discrimination his loved ones and friends have faced, simply because they are associated with him.

“[My husband] Steve is HIV negative, but he’s a teacher in college, right? He’s a brilliant teacher. It’s difficult for him at times because he’s afraid of the stigma that might come from the students within the college,” he revealed.

Thomas also revealed that his parents have faced pushback, stating that people once knew them as the parents of ‘Gareth, the Welsh rugby player.” However, now they are known as “the mother and father of the guy who’s got HIV.”

“So, the stigma that comes with the association of being open and wanting to be authentic in a certain way, but thinking that will last. Will that stigma disappear for me the day after I talk about my HIV virus because I got nothing to hide anymore,” he said.

“The reality is the day after is when the shit begins, right? It’s when it starts because you’ve opened yourself up, you’ve made yourself vulnerable.”

In addition to his status, the legendary talent discussed being an ‘agony aunt’ for closeted sports players and gushed about his husband’s longstanding support.

Check out Thomas’ full podcast interview here.

Liverpool manager Gareth Taylor tells BBC Sport’s Emma Sanders that he stayed “true to my role” when dealing with disagreements with England forward Chloe Kelly in his previous job as Manchester City boss.

READ MORE: Taylor says he was true to role during Kelly argument

Taylor now takes on a fresh opportunity at Liverpool, who finished seventh in the Women’s Super League last season.

There is work to do, he acknowledges, having taken a few months to get his appointment over the line because of contractual issues from his previous post at City.

During that time, Liverpool’s star player Olivia Smith was sold to Arsenal for a world record £1m fee, joining vice-captain Taylor Hinds, who ended her five-year stint with the Reds.

“Those players go with our best wishes. You never want to retain a player that probably has her eye on a move and we understand that completely,” said Taylor.

“There is work to do, for sure. We don’t want to lose top players like those two but it makes the challenge a little bit more difficult.

“Ideally [myself and my staff] would have been here a little bit earlier but it is what it is. In the days we have been here, we have seen big strides.

“The engagement from the players has been fantastic. They are a really good group of girls. The people here are incredible. The club is top class in that sense.”

Liverpool are rebuilding to try to close the gap between themselves and the WSL’s top four.

“The challenges here will be different to any other club. But what we have here is a very good opportunity to start to build something,” said Taylor.

“The environment at Melwood is incredible. The girls are really hungry to learn and to create an identity. That’s the key thing. That process is not a quick one.

“It takes time and it takes struggles, unfortunately. It’s clear that will happen. But we’re really understanding of that and we’re here to support the players and staff as much as we can to be as quickly aligned as we can be.”

Liverpool have named former Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor as their new head coach.

The Reds have been without a permanent manager since sacking Matt Beard in February, with Amber Whiteley taking charge on an interim basis for the remainder of 2024-25.

Taylor was sacked by City in March just five days before the Women’s League Cup final.

“Everyone in football knows about the history, size and potential of this club, and I am really looking forward to the task ahead,” Taylor said.

“Our aim is to create a team that supporters can be proud of, which plays good football and which will hopefully bring success along the way.”

The Welshman began working with City’s academy in 2011 and was appointed head coach in 2020.

He won the FA Cup during his first season and led the club to League Cup glory in 2022, while his side missed out on the Women’s Super League (WSL) title on goal difference in 2023-24.

Liverpool finished seventh last season, 35 points adrift of champions Chelsea.

It is thought Malaysian businessman Tan has little interest in selling Cardiff – the club he has invested £200m-plus into since buying in 2010.

Bale recently confirmed it would be “a dream come true” to purchase the Bluebirds, outlining his desire to take the club to the Premier League.

Speaking to Sky Sports in June, he said: “We’ve been speaking about it (a takeover), trying to engage with Cardiff but more news will come out on that in the future but hopefully we can get something done.”

The 35-year-old was heavily linked with a move to the Cardiff City Stadium prior to joining Los Angeles in the summer of 2022.

Bale went on to help the Major League Soccer side win the MLS Cup by scoring a last-minute equaliser in extra time of the final as LA went on to beat Philadelphia Union on penalties.

He featured in each of his country’s group stage matches against the USA, Iran and England at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar before retiring from football in January 2023.

Cardiff – now led by former Manchester City Elite Development Squad boss Brian Barry-Murphy – are preparing for a first campaign in the third tier since 2002-03 having finished bottom of the Championship last season.

The Bluebirds have not commented on the Bale-led consortium’s approaches to buy the club.

On the pitch, Southgate’s legacy will always be those agonising near misses, with the finger being pointed in his direction for conservative tactics, especially when early leads and domination ended with defeat to Croatia in the World Cup last four, as well as that defeat on penalties to Italy at Wembley.

For someone so often portrayed as “too nice” – something mistaken for his basic decency – Southgate showed steel as a player and again as a manager.

Even before he was appointed as the permanent manager, caretaker boss Southgate effectively signalled the end for Wayne Rooney’s England career by dropping the captain and record goalscorer for a World Cup qualifier in Slovenia before he was eased aside.

Sterling’s time with England ended after the 2022 World Cup, while Jack Grealish was cut from the Euro 2024 squad.

Southgate’s relationship with England’s supporters fluctuated, from the adulation between 2018 and 2021 to the toxicity of a night at Molineux in June 2022 when the personal abuse was such that it had a profound impact on the manager.

England’s Euro 2024 campaign, a somewhat joyless and mediocre affair in which much of the goodwill for Southgate had been diluted, also saw the manager pelted with empty beer cups and jeered by fans after a goalless draw with Slovenia in Cologne.

It was poor payback for what Southgate had given those England fans, only adding to the sense that this was an era drawing to a close, and perhaps the manager would not be sorry to see the back of it.

England flickered fitfully in Germany, reaching the final which ended in the familiar pain of defeat at Spain deservedly won 2-1.

It was a disappointing conclusion, making for a natural end to his time as England manager in which Southgate had made players and supporters dream again.

Once the short-term disappointment eased, it was right that Southgate should be judged with total respect, and befitting of his reign that he should have his investiture moment.

Former Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale is part of a US-based consortium’s attempt to take over League One club Plymouth Argyle.

Talks with the private equity firm are said to be at an early stage.

Plymouth owner Simon Hallett said last month that a previous agreement to sell a stake in the club had fallen through.

Bale would be following the lead of former Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric, who was part of group that acquired control of Swansea in April.

The Croatia midfielder has taken on a minority stake with the stated aim of generating worldwide attention on the Welsh club.

Legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady previously became part of the new Birmingham City’s ownership group, while Wrexham have generated huge amounts of revenue from publicity attached to their Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Plymouth were relegated to the third tier last season after an ill-fated return to the Championship.

The ambitious pre-season appointment of Wayne Rooney as manager did not work and his replacement Miron Muslic resigned at the end of the season and joined German club Schalke.

Former Manchester United midfielder and Watford boss Tom Cleverley was appointed as manager on 13 June.

It is not known what role, if any, five-time Champions League winner Bale will have at Plymouth should the planned takeover succeed.

The former Southampton and Tottenham man, 35, retired from playing in 2023.