Shameless star Gerard Kearns to play Barry Bennell abuse victim Andy Woodward
Kearns, 37, who played Ian on the Chatsworth Estate-based show, will star in the feature-length one-off drama Floodlights.
The story of former footballer Andy Woodward, who was sexually abused by youth coach Barry Bennell, will be told in a new BBC drama.
The feature-length Floodlights, made with Woodward’s co-operation, will tell how in 2016 the sports star revealed he had been abused while playing at Crewe, prompting a string of other players to come forward and the FA to launch a review.
Bennell had been convicted in the United States in 1995 of sexually abusing a 13-year-old British boy on a tour.
In February 2018, Bennell was sentenced to 31 years in prison in Britain for repeatedly abusing 12 boys aged eight to 15 between 1979 and 1991, with a judge describing him as “the devil incarnate”. He was sentenced to a further four years in 2020.
Woodward will be played by Shameless star Gerard Kearns, with The Bay’s Jonas Armstrong, The A Word’s Morven Christie and Benidorm actor Steve Edge also starring.
The show is written by Matt Greenhalgh, whose previous credits include Control and Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, and directed by Nick Rowland, who is responsible for Calm With Horses and Hard Sun.
It will follow Woodward from a boy with a passion for football to his successful professional career, as it reveals he is no longer able to ignore the haunting memories of the abuse he was subjected to.
It will also examine the power and control held by Bennell as he groomed young players and their families with the promise of making their dreams come true, the BBC said.
Woodward said: “Since speaking out in 2016, I wanted to continue to encourage people to talk without fear to make a change.
“Floodlights tells my story, which no child should ever have to go through. I hope this film helps to stop abuse in football and in all areas of life.”
Greenhalgh added: “I was in the crowd at Maine Road when Bury FC beat my team, Manchester City, 0-1 in 1998.
“Andy Woodward was playing for Bury… and was outstanding. When his brutal story broke, I remember being stunned not only by the magnanimity of his courage but by how this could happen in our national sport.
“His horrific revelations were undoubtedly a pivotal moment for football… but also for many, many men.
“Andy’s story more than deserves telling as drama so that it can keep on telling, and informing, the next generation of parents and kids.
“And I am very proud to be part of his honourable fight to expose those who prey on children in any walk of life.”
Floodlights will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in the spring.
