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A former kitman for Celtic has confessed to a sickening campaign of sexual abuse of young footballers over two decades.

Youth coach Jim McCafferty, who is living in Belfast, now faces a police investigation and a possible prosecution and prison sentence.

But any justice he receives will come too late for his many victims.

One was a young footballer from Dublin who was just 15 when he was abused by perverted McCafferty.

The sex beast fondled the youth player in “more than a dozen” incidents in 1983. The abuse left him dependent on alcohol and destroyed his life.

Even as he made his stunning confession and apologised for his crimes, McCafferty, 71, remained in denial about the terrible damage he has done.

He described his serial acts of abuse as “a bit of fun, a bit of hilarity”. And he spoke of enjoying “teenage orgies” with boys in the dressing room after victories.

McCafferty even had the gall to claim that the sexual abuse he inflicted helped “toughen up” one of the boys he was trusted to look after.

And as he finally admitted his crimes and “paedophile tendencies”, it was clear he had far more pity for himself than his victims.

McCafferty, who now lives in Belfast, told us at his home: “I understand it was wrong. I was wrong and I did wrong and I am sorry.

“I have remorse. I know if I’m found guilty I will have to serve time, and I’ve said to myself that’s what I’ll have to pay back for what I’ve done.

“I’m OK with that. I hope that will cleanse my soul.”

McCafferty waited decades to admit his guilt after preying on teenagers in the 80s and 90s while coaching at boys’ and junior teams at West Lothian. He also abused young players at Celtic between 1990 and 1996.

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McCafferty named five victims – two from Celtic – when he spoke to us. But he later said there were “about a dozen”, and admitted he didn’t know all their names..

He said he never raped boys, but admitted sexually touching their private parts. He confessed to regular sexual contact, including fondling and masturbation, with his victims.

McCafferty described his abuse as “not going the whole way, but going some of the way”.

He added: “I was getting a bit of fun and I suppose as much enjoyment.

“I feel bad that I was involved in it. But at the time I was thinking to myself, if they didn’t want to be involved in it, nobody forced them.”

Bizarrely, McCafferty claimed he preyed on one boy – a particular favourite of his – to “toughen him up”.

He recalled: “One of the boys was a very mummy’s boy, a soft boy. He was my favourite but he needed toughened up.

“I took advantage of one boy. He needed a bit of life about him. It was sexual at that time. There was a lot of fondling and fun.

“I loved being with the boys. I had deep fondness for them all.

“The boys weren’t bad at football and I was trying to help them, to bring them to people’s attention, to take notice of them.”

McCafferty saw it as his job to help form the character of young boys in his care. But he chose to use physical and sexual assault to do it.

He admitted he often touched boys private parts and pulled their penises, describing it as “a bit of fun, a bit of hilarity on that side”.

And when asked if he had rubbed boot polish on one boy’s private parts – an incident described to us by one of his victims – he replied: “I wouldn’t deny and say it didn’t happen because there’s that possibility it would have happened, yes.”

Even though he was a grown man in his 30s and 40s at the time, McCafferty admitted he would strip naked and join boys in the showers after games.

He said he would then take part in “horseplay”, touching and pulling at boys’ private parts.

McCafferty said he understood, even as he was doing it, that it was wrong. But he claimed the boys were “messing about” among themselves and enjoying it, although he should have taken control of the situation.

He said: “I saw what was happening and I thought, ‘No that’s not right.’ When they were all messing about in the dressing room and things, common sense would come to you.

“Yes, it could become too much. But then again sometimes it was taken for the way it’s meant to be, as fun.

“Back then it was normal, run-of-the-mill stuff, just playing the game. After a home win the excitement would be heightened.” McCafferty compared the scenes in some dressing rooms after victories to “a teenage orgy”.

He added: “Yes, that’s what it was like. It was a bit of fun and enjoyment for them to have, but as adults we should have used our brains and stepped in and stopped it.

“I’ve regretted it for years. It has haunted me and I’ve not had a good night’s sleep for a long time.

“Tonight, I feel unburdened.”

McCafferty said he craved the company of boys because of loneliness and confusion about his own sexuality.

And when we asked him if he had paedophile tendencies, he admitted: “To a certain extent, yes.”

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He added: “Not just because I like young boys. But it’s just a case that you’re there, involved with them and that side of them.”

McCafferty said he was no longer a threat to teenagers because he is no longer involved in football.

Asked if touching boys in the way he did amounted to paedophilia, he said: “I suppose to a certain extent the answer would have to be yes. But the point is I’m away from it.”

McCafferty denied grooming any boys, saying: “I wouldn’t have known what grooming was.”

And despite his claims to be haunted by his past crimes, he admits he still thinks back fondly to the days when he was surrounded by boys.

“They made me feel good,” he said. “I felt very physically good with them.

“It make me that wee bit extra cheerful. They’d have a laugh and a joke with me, same as I had with them.”

McCafferty claimed only one boy he abused ever told him to stop.

He said: “I’d have said I’d have been involved with him once, twice at the most. The one thing I think he could have over me is that he was in France playing in some competition. I had to pick them up and take them to the hotels they were in and we had a laugh and a joke.

“I grabbed him by the willy and that sort of thing, in his room.”

McCafferty said the boy was 19 at the time.

He added: “He just looked at me, and I can remember because he was a wee bit of a holy holy.

“He said, ‘No Jim, just step back Jim.’”

Asked if he challenged the boy, McCafferty replied: “No, because I was very friendly with his dad.”

McCafferty was born in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, and was a promising player himself as a boy.

And he said that while playing youth football in England, he was subjected to the same acts he later carried out. He said: “It happened to me. People would pull your ‘bobby’, as we called it, in those days.

“Most clubs, most players would have been involved. It was part of the game. Without a doubt there are stacks of managers who wouldn’t have, but there’s something different in the genes in me.”

McCafferty insisted he never raped a boy. He said: “No, nobody would even get away with that.”

Asked why he had finally decided to confess his abuse, he said: “Now I can take a breath again.

“My concern is if someone hurts me when I’m walking down the street.”

McCafferty has offered to hand himself in to police in Northern Ireland for questioning. Police Scotland are already investigating claims he abused young footballers in Scotland.

He says he hopes others who have been in authority in football will now come forward and face their demons.

“I’m willing to face it,” he said. “No one has accused me of raping them but I cannot lie.

“There are things I’ve done and I have to accept that. But now this is about me drawing the line.

“I don’t want to hide anything. I have been haunted by what I did.

“I was lonely and the boys made me feel good. I wanted their company without a doubt, although the greatest interest was football.”