Disclosing the sexual abuse he suffered as a child in a searingly honest auto- biography had repercussions beyond Kieron Dyer himself. Another relative has stepped forward this week to say that he, too, was abused by Dyer’s deceased great uncle Kenny.

The revelation about Dyer’s ordeal when he was “11 or 12” is one part of a candid memoir (Old Too Soon, Smart Too Late) that describes £200,000 gambling debts in the England squad, mayhem at Newcastle and hedonism in Ayia Napa. But the admission that he was abused by a relative as a child is plainly the most far-reaching chapter, in a week when Barry Bennell was found guilty of 43 child sex offences.

Dyer, 39, now an academy coach at Ipswich Town, was emboldened by the courage of Bennell’s victims to reveal his own shattering secret. “When they came out, and this story became public knowledge, it was relief and gave me even more confidence that I could tell my story,” he says.

“From a selfish point of view, it brought those feelings back, but it was a relief to see the outpouring of respect and warmth that was shown to them.

“The thing I worry about is that there’s not going to be closure for my family because we found out yesterday there’s someone else in the family who had been abused. People have obviously now twigged on with certain signs, so I think it’s going to be ongoing for my family, which is hard for me to see.