David White, the one-time England international, is among the former footballers whose “life was torn apart” by Barry Bennell and is now willing to go public about his ordeal at the hands of a serial paedophile who worked in junior and professional football more than three decades.

White, best known for his long association with Manchester City, was targeted by Bennell, the coach he had “hero-worshipped”, when he was 11, playing for one of the teams run by a man regarded as one of the best junior coaches and talent-spotters in the country.

White’s story has disturbing similarities to the ordeals suffered by Andy Woodward and Steve Walters, two other former players, who have waived their right to anonymity to tell the Guardian how Bennell preyed on them when they were in Crewe Alexandra’s youth system.

Paul Stewart, the former Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool player, has also come forward to allege he was sexually abused by another coach in the north-west from the ages of 11 to 15. Stewart, who began his career at Blackpool and won three England caps in the early-1990s, told the Daily Mirror it led to him turning to drink and drugs after he had stopped playing.

White, whose career also included spells at Leeds United and Sheffield United, said: “Given recent press stories I wish to confirm that I was sexually abused by my former football coach Barry Bennell in the late 70s and early 80s – this abuse took place while I was attached to Whitehill FC Junior team based in Manchester.

“For a number of reasons, and for nearly two decades, I kept my ordeal secret from my family and friends. While I believe throughout my football career I have come to terms with what had happened, I now realise the effects of Bennell’s actions were much more far-reaching than I knew then.”

White intends to tell his story in a book, entitled Shades of Blue: The Hidden Torment of a Football Star. Joanne Lake, whose husband, Paul, played in the same City team, is collaborating with him on the book.

“Last year I made the decision to gather my thoughts, reflect on my experience and tell my life story in my own words,” White said. “I did not set out to write a story about the abuse, but knew I would have to include it.

“In doing so I have come to terms with the fact that Bennell’s actions influenced almost every event and relationship in my life. The process of writing the book became sometimes painful, always cathartic and incredibly liberating. I would like to say that I do not feel brave.

“This is just my story and I am now happy to tell it because despite the profound effects of 1979-80 I feel like one of the lucky ones.

“Circumstances took me away from the abuse before it escalated. I salute Andy Woodward, Steve Walters, and Paul Stewart for so bravely revealing their personal tragedies. The physical abuse they and others suffered was certainly more extreme and prolonged than my ordeal, and I cannot be sure that I would have their courage.”

White, now 49, was a member of City’s “golden generation” that won the FA Youth Cup in 1986 and made his first-team debut at the age of 18, going on to play for them for the next seven years as well as winning an England cap in a 1992 friendly against Spain.

The book’s publisher, Michael O’Mara Books, said: “David’s parents had given this coach their blessing, believing that his attentions would hugely benefit their son’s football progress. They were, however, utterly unaware that this popular, 20-something, highly regarded coach – who David hero-worshipped – was in fact a prolific and predatory paedophile.”

Bennell, who coached leading junior teams in Manchester, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire, helped to bring through several first-team players at Maine Road as well as various other international footballers at other clubs.

Now 62, he was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1998 after admitting 23 specimen charges of sexual offences against six boys aged nine to 15, with another 22 offences left on file. He previously served a four-sentence in Florida for offences against a boy on a football tour and was jailed for two years in May 2015 for molesting a 12-year-old in Macclesfield in 1980. He is currently out on licence and believed to be living in Milton Keynes.

Eleven people have contacted Cheshire police on the back of Woodward’s interview when the former Crewe, Bury and Sheffield player revealed he had been sexually abused for several years, from the age of 11, by a man described by the American authorities as having “almost an insatiable appetite” for young boys.

The FA is setting up a hotline for other potential victims and six more people who were previously coached by Bennell contacted Woodward directly on Tuesday after Walters went public to reveal how he had also been targeted by his former coach.

• The NSPCC’s helpline is 0808 800 5000 or Child Line for children and young people can be contacted on 0800 1111.

• NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, can be contacted on 0808 801 0331.

• In the UK, The Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.