A youth football coach has been charged with child sex offences against 11 boys.

Kit Carson, 74, is accused of 11 counts of indecent assault and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The offences are alleged to have happened between 1978 and 2009 and involve boys under the age of 16.

Carson, whose real name is Michael Sean Carson, was arrested in Cambridge in January last year.

Police had been working with two of Carson’s former clubs, Peterborough United and Cambridge United, since the football abuse scandal was broken by the Guardian.

Carson was academy director at Peterborough from 1993 to 2001. Players he worked with there went on to have careers in the Premier League. Carson left to become head of talent development at Cambridge United between 2001 and 2005.

Before Peterborough he was at Norwich City from 1983 until 1993. He also has connections with other junior teams and on his LinkedIn page, he described himself as a football consultant and scout for a Finnish club.

A spokesman for Cambrigeshire police said: “A man has been charged in connection with an investigation into non-recent allegations related to football in Cambridgeshire.

“Michael ‘Kit’ Carson, 74, of Riverside, Cambridge, was charged today after answering bail.

“He has been charged with 11 counts of indecent assault and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

“The offences are alleged to have happened between 1978 and 2009 and involve 11 victims, all boys under the age of 16.”

Carson has been released on conditional bail to attend Cambridge magistrates court on 17 April.