Predatory Celtic scout Kenneth Divers and two other convicted paedophiles were hailed as being central to the club’s on-field success in the team’s official magazine. Past editions of The Celtic View heaped praise on the club’s scouts – including 78-year-old pervert Divers, who was caged for five years last Wednesday for abusing young boys in his care.
Two articles praised Celtic talent-spotters for their efforts, at a time when Divers was actively abusing boys. His conviction and sentence came as the club is fighting a US-style class lawsuit.
The civil action was launched against the Glasgow club by about 25 child sex abuse victims. Lawyers acting for Celtic have argued that the boys’ club was a separate entity from the senior team. But issues of the club’s weekly newspaper from May 1992 say Divers and fellow scouts Jim McCafferty and Jim Brown – who were both also convicted of child sex offences – played a key role in identifying Celtic stars of the future.
Divers, who worked as a teacher and a football coach at schools in Paisley, preyed on four pupils between 1968 and 1992. His trial at Paisley Sheriff Court heard he targeted his third victim, when the boy was aged between 10 and 14, between 1984 and 1988.
A 1987 edition of The Celtic View ran an interview with John Kelman, Celtic’s chief scout at the time, who was hired by former first-team manager Billy McNeill nine years earlier. Kelman told how important Divers and the other scouts were to the club.
On one page, Divers is highlighted as being one of 12 men responsible for unearthing promising youngsters, with a view to them becoming first-team superstars. The article – which was headlined STAR-FINDER – quotes Kelman as being “anxious to mention the sterling work done by his little scouting army who leave no stone unturned in their quest to make Celtic great again”.
The article says: “At present there are several young players at youth and reserve level just bursting to make a name for themselves in the footsteps of their illustrious elder Celtic brothers.” It adds: “I’m now beginning to see the fruits of what we started nine years ago.
“There’s no greater feeling than when you see a lad, whom a scout spotted years before, finally making it to the Celtic first team.”
It mentions Celtic stars Paul McStay, Peter Grant and Roy Aitken, and other former players such as Derek Whyte, Owen Archdeacon and Anton Rogan as “notable” graduates of “the Celtic youth policy”. Divers targeted his fourth victim between August 1991 and December 1992 and was mentioned in a 1992 edition of The Celtic View as being key to the senior side.
The article mentions 14 others scouts, including two other convicted sex offenders – McCafferty and Brown. It gives details of the talent-spotters and the parts of Scotland they cover – from Glasgow, Ayrshire and Lanarkshire to Paisley, Central Scotland, West Lothian and Dundee. It states: “Celtic have always been famous for their teams ON the field but it’s the team OFF it which makes success possible.”
Again the story quotes Kelman, who stated: “Based on that, we have a good picture of the boys we are most interested in and can recruit 14 and 15-year-olds who progress to our S-form training sessions.
“Because I concentrate upon senior professional football, the first I see of promising youngsters is often at the trials for recommended boys but I get a chance to do some catching up on that side of my job during the close season. I take the opportunity to see our S-form players in action with their clubs, though I have to safeguard against putting extra pressure on them by my presence.”
McCafferty, who worked as both a scout and a kitman at Parkhead, was convicted of abusing young kids in his care and jailed for child sex offences. He died in prison last year, aged 76, while serving a sentence of six years and nine months for abusing 10 different boys over several decades, beginning in the 70s.
At the High Court in Edinburgh in 2019 he pled guilty to 11 charges in a campaign of “sexual depravity”. He abused young players prior to joining Celtic, while involved with the boys club sides of Armadale Thistle and Fauldhouse United.
Brown, 76, was also involved with Fauldhouse and was snared by cops during the probe into McCafferty’s abuse. At Livingston Sheriff Court in 2018, he was convicted of indecently assaulting three teenagers in the showers at the West Lothian boys club.
Police Scotland began an investigation into abuse at football clubs in 2016 after high-profile stars – including former Scotland striker Alan Brazil and English players – spoke out about their experiences.
Brown and McCafferty were arrested as part of that probe. Divers fled to Dubai in 2013. He then moved to Vietnam but was brought to Scotland last January after an Interpol “Red Notice” was issued.
The next hearing in the civil case against Celtic is set for later this year.
Celtic FC has been approached for comment on the articles.
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