A former Chelsea youth player has alleged that Gwyn Williams presided over a “mini apartheid state” there and may join a group of former members of the junior setup seeking to take legal action against the club.

The player, who wishes to remain anonymous, was prompted to explore legal action after reading in the Guardian about the experiences of other former Chelsea youth players.

Amid mounting allegations of abuse, denied by Williams, Chelsea have brought in Barnardo’s, Britain’s largest children’s charity, to oversee an independent investigation.

It is understood more players are set to come forward to allege racial abuse in the 1980s and 1990s. The latest player to speak out said he decided to go public after reading the accounts of Grant Lunn and Gary Baker, two white men who played in Chelsea’s youth setup in the early 1980s. They supported accounts by black former Chelsea players who alleged a culture of racist abuse and bullying under Williams, a key figure at Stamford Bridge for 25 years. Williams is said to have arranged “whites against blacks” matches in training.

“It’s amazing that when you read other people’s stories more and more of the jigsaw puzzle fits together,” the player said. “I saw a picture of Gwyn on the news – an old picture – and it was shocking; it brought it all back.

“At the time you don’t think anything of it because racism was the norm; it’s quite tragic really. But once I saw the article I’m thinking about doing something through the legal channels.

“Reading about the white v black matches stirred my memory,” he added. “Gwyn used to do that sometimes. But I remember one evening John Hollins [the Chelsea manager] came to train with us in the evening and he [Williams] was as good as gold, much different from usual. It was at Battersea Park and I remember Gwyn being a completely different person almost and thinking: ‘He’s being quite nice.’

“When we used to train at Stamford Bridge it was like a mini apartheid state,” he claimed. “We all used to be given lunch money but the suspicion was that the white trainees were getting more money because they’d have all the Armani gear and the best black players would be walking round like second-tier citizens.”

The Guardian published a story in January recounting the stories of three former youth-team footballers from the 90s who are issuing legal claims against Chelsea. One of them, now in his late 30s, described it as a “feral environment” for some of the black players in the youth team, alleging they were treated “like a race of fucking dogs”.

They also implicated former England international Graham Rix, accusing him of subjecting them to racist abuse. Rix has denied that.

“I never came into contact with Rix,” the player, who previously played youth football for West Ham, said. “But there wasn’t any sort of support network at Chelsea where you could have complained at the time. When I was at West Ham it was completely different. West Ham was four or five top coaches who were always there with their specialisms looking after you at the same time. At Chelsea it was Gwyn Williams with a couple of people definitely beneath him. There was no doubt about who was king of the castle at Chelsea – it was always Gwyn.”

Eddie Johns, solicitor for Gwyn Williams, said: “We stated in January, on behalf of Gwyn, that he denied all and any allegations of racial abuse. That denial continues. I can add nothing to that. Other than reminding you of that denial I am not able to assist you further.”

Chelsea, who are under different ownership from the time of the allegations, said: “We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and they will be fully investigated. We are absolutely determined to do the right thing, to assist the authorities and any investigations they may carry out, and to fully support those affected which would include counselling for any former player that may need it.”