United reaches out-of-court settlement in historic abuse case

Manchester United have settled a civil claim brought by a man who alleged he was sexually assaulted by former caretaker Billy Watts at the club's old training ground in 1986. The settlement, reached in March without admission of liability, involved an undisclosed payout. Watts, who died in 2009, had been the subject of multiple complaints and was later named in the FA's independent inquiry into football's sexual abuse scandal.

EXPANDED:

The settlement, finalized in March, followed a High Court civil claim filed the previous November by a man who said he was assaulted at the Cliff training ground in 1986 at age 14. Watts had been moved from the Cliff to Old Trafford after a 1989 disciplinary hearing, then left the club months later. He died in 2009, before the Sheldon inquiry identified him among multiple complainants.

The Sheldon report catalogued several allegations against Watts, including inappropriate sexual remarks, pulling a young person into