Andy Woodward’s harrowing account of the sexual abuse he suffered from the football coach Barry Bennell in the 1980s has led to six people coming forward to the police and the Football Association setting up a helpline for potential victims.

The police are now in the early stages of collating the new information and speaking to a number of former players who have contacted them since Woodward waived his anonymity to tell the Guardian he had been targeted for several years at Crewe Alexandra, from the age of 11, when Bennell was one of the youth-team coaches.

“As of Monday we have been made aware of six other people who have come forward wishing to speak to the police,” Ben Hilton, acting detective sergeant in Cheshire Police’s public protection unit, said in a statement. “We are currently in the process of making contact with the six people and at this stage no one else is under investigation.”

Woodward, now 43, said he had been raped on hundreds of occasions and spoke of his belief that many other players had suffered in silence because of a man who described himself in legal proceedings as a “monster” but once had a reputation for being one of the outstanding coaches and talent-spotters in the sport.

Two players have independently told this newspaper of another person within the football world who they say abused them, while Crewe have broken their silence amid growing criticism of the way they were handling the fallout of Woodward’s interview.

John Bowler, the club’s chairman since 1987 and a director from 1980, said it was unfair to think they were not taking the issue seriously enough and that the nine-man board of directors would hold specially convened talks in the light of Woodward’s harrowing story and the growing realisation about the way the case was escalating.

Dario Gradi, the club’s director of football and long-serving former manager, had earlier said that the directors and staff had been placed under instructions to “keep out of it” but, five days after Woodward’s interview was published, Bowler insisted Crewe did not warrant criticism for their lack of response.

“All this came out of the blue,” Bowler said. “When things come out of the blue you want to make some inquiries from within. There is no doubt we concur with what the FA have said and we are now looking at it from within and considering what our actions should be going forward.

“We are a proud club and when allegations are made that we didn’t take it seriously we want to reflect. I will be meeting with the directors to review the situation. I’m the chairman but we have a board of very dedicated people who are at the heart of what Crewe Alexandra are about. We don’t take lightly – and I don’t mean that aggressively – any of these comments. We are not belittling anything.

“I’m not asking you to be kind but please don’t be too unkind because we really are taking it seriously and looking at the whole issue. We are talking about something 30 years ago, and a lot has changed in that time, but we must look at the current climate and, if we are to make changes, not just at Crewe but in football.”

Bennell was imprisoned for nine years in 1998 after admitting 23 specimen charges against six boys, aged nine to 15, with another 22 offences allowed to lie on file. The hearing at Chester crown court was told one offence took place on one of Crewe’s training pitches. Another was said to have happened at Gradi’s house, though the court was told the then manager did not know about it.

Bennell was jailed for two years in May 2015 for another historic offence, involving a 12-year-old boy on a football course in Macclesfield, and has also served a four-year sentence in Florida after the buggery and indecent assault of a 13-year-old British boy on a football tour.

Bowler went on to say that he concurred with the joint statement put out by the Football Association, the Premier League and the Football League that described Woodward’s ordeal as “heart-breaking” and praised him for his “immense courage”.

Earlier in the day, however, Gradi had said there was an understanding at Crewe that nobody from the club should talk to the media. “I can’t help you, I’m afraid,” said Gradi, whose association with the club began in 1983.

“The chairman has told me he will issue a statement if he feels it necessary and that otherwise we should keep out of it. I don’t understand any of it. It was a long time ago and for all intents and purposes it was dealt with at the time.”

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

• 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.