New Premier League season begins … but child abuse scandal hangs heavy over football

The new Premier League football season kicks off this week, with record sums of money spent by top flight teams on new talent. 

The start of this coming season marks the 25th anniversary of the Premier League, and in a campaign first, it will get underway with a Friday night game – with Arsenal hosting Leicester at the Emirates.

This season will also see players competing for places in the 2018 World Cup squad, which will take place in Russia next summer. All in all, it’s set to be an exciting season, with Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albionand Huddersfield Town hoping to make their mark in the league after promotion.

But despite all the new season anticipation, football continues to be plagued by allegations of historical child abuse. This comes after a number of former players waived their rights to anonymity and talked publicly at the end of last year about childhood sexual abuse by former coaches in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.