A FORMER footie starlet revealed paedo coach Barry Bennell twice abused him as a schoolboy.
Dougie Gilligan claims he was targeted aged 13 by the serial sex fiend at Butlins training camps in the 1970s.
The former semi-pro player said the predator, who was in hospital last night after a suspected suicide attempt, pounced as he slept in his chalet with two other lads.
Dougie, of Hamilton, added: “Bennell was a man’s man — somebody a young boy would look up to. Did a lot of name dropping with famous footballers.
“Thinking back, a classic predatory paedophile groomer but as a boy, you don’t see that. He abused me on a minor level but I told him where to get off.
“I feel lucky I dodged the bullet.”
Dougie said he reported Bennell to cops in 1996.
He was ready to testify but was spared after the ex-Crewe coach — jailed three times for child abuse — pled guilty.
Dougie yesterday urged footie chiefs to probe the scale of perv attacks in the game. He added: “It could be huge. I feel guilty that I didn’t speak up earlier.”
Ex-SFA chief exec Gordon Smith said: “The SFA need to announce a full investigation, just to be sure.” Cancer sufferer Bennell, 62, was found unconscious in a hotel yesterday.
PA:PRESS ASSOCIATION
The former coach, now convicted after he admitted sexual offences against young boys, worked with junior teams for decades.
His conviction, and the footballers abused by him who have waived their right to anonymity to tell their stories, are encouraging others within the sport to come forward.
On Friday, November 25, he was found not breathing in his hotel room and rushed to hospital.
He was staying at the Novotel Hotel in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, when police received a call reporting concerns for his welfare at about 10.50pm.
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