Image caption Barry Bennell: Neil Lennon reveals affect of coach child sex abuse case

Hibernian manager Neil Lennon says he feels angry and sad that two friends and former team-mates were sexually abused by former football coach Barry Bennell.

Bennell has been jailed for 31 years for 50 counts of child sexual abuse.

Lennon played alongside Andy Woodward and Steve Walters, two of Bennell's victims, at Crewe Alexandra.

"I feel sorry and I feel angry that my team-mates and my friends went through that," Lennon told BBC Scotland.

"I also feel sad that they couldn't confide in anyone, that this guy had such a magnetic hold over them that Andy couldn't even tell his parents.

"We had no idea. I was best man at Andy's first wedding, we were friends, we used to travel from Manchester to Crewe in the car every day and I had no inkling whatsoever.

"I almost feel that I've let them down, because Woody was a good friend of mine at that time."

Lennon joined Crewe in 1990 after leaving Manchester City, while Woodward and Walters came through the youth ranks at the club.

Bennell, a junior football coach and youth scout, worked at the club in the 1980s and 1990s.

"He was very well thought of as a coach," Lennon said. "He had a good reputation in terms of working with young players and bringing them on.

"Crewe were churning out players at the time. I was a first-team player, so I didn't really have a lot to do with him.

"I was staying at Steve Walters' grandparents' house in digs and there was a little caravan at the back that Bennell would use maybe once or twice a month, or he'd maybe come in for a cup of tea and chat.

"Obviously he was very good at what he did, he could put on a very good front. There was a real touch of arrogance about him as well. He was very sure of himself.

"It's horrific, the industrial scale that has gone on. This guy has ruined lives, ruined careers. It's heartbreaking.

"We all just hope he never sees the light of day again.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Former Crewe player Andy Woodward spoke out in 2016 about being a victim of Barry Bennell

"The Bennell issue is something that's very raw for me because I knew these guys very well. I have spoken to the police on a couple of occasions regarding it.

"There were four of us who used to travel from Manchester to Crewe every day and we'd take turns driving. We'd see each other every day, we played every day, I was best man at Woody's first wedding and he never cracked a light on it.

"It's easy for us to say, speak about it, but [there's the] machismo thing, the self-awareness thing, that self-pride thing and the hurt that he must have been going through.

"Steve was my team-mate for three or four years and [I] never saw it.

"[They showed] incredible strength to go on and have a career, but there's no doubt that it damaged their careers. Steve Walters was a superb player at 16, 17, 18, 19 and I've no question now looking back that it would have had a huge effect on his life."

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Steve Walters, centre, spoke outside the court after Barry Bennell's sentencing alongside fellow abuse victims Micky Fallon (left) and Chris Unsworth

Lennon recalls Woodward fainting and telling him about panic attacks, after he left Crewe for Bury, but was never aware of any abuse.

Woodward spoke publicly to the Guardian newspaper, in 2016 about the abuse he had suffered, then Walters, Chris Unsworth and Jason Dunford came forward, speaking of abuse they had suffered.

"I spoke to Steve, I was trying to get down to play in a charity game in July, but I couldn't make it," Lennon added.

"I spoke to Woody. I'm really proud of the way that they've come out of this and the way that they've handled it."