An investigation into a former footballer’s claims she was sexually assaulted by her coach at Fulham Football Club in the 1990s has been re-opened by the Metropolitan Police.
Ronnie Gibbons, the former captain of Fulham Ladies, and three other team-mates spoke to police at length in 2021 and 2022, detailing claims of sexual assaults when two of them were minors. The women also told officers about inappropriate and sometimes overlapping relationships between a football coach and a number of young female adult players when they were at Fulham.
The man they accused, Gary Mulcahey, categorically denies their claims. Mulcahey, now 57, joined Fulham in 1992. He worked in the club’s community office, set up the club’s team for females aged 14 and over in 1993, and was the general manager when the women turned professional in 2000. He left the football club in 2008.
Mr Mulcahey’s solicitor said in October he “did not coach or manage the Girls’ team at Fulham FC”, adding that “all his relationships were non-coercive and consensual and continued to be so”. They stressed: “Mr Mulcahey categorically denies that he has acted in any illegal or unlawful way against any of these girls. He did not groom them, nor did he commit any sexual assaults on them when they were minors as he understands has been alleged, or at any time”.
Mulcahey was interviewed twice under caution but police decided to drop the investigation and take “no further action” in September. Ronnie’s allegations did not reach the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the main public agency for prosecuting criminal cases in England and Wales.
Two of the four women who made complaints to the police said they were not even notified the case had been closed, and two of them were given the same case number. All four women felt their allegations had not been investigated vigorously enough.
Former Republic of Ireland international Ronnie, now 44, requested a review of her case but the deadline for completing it passed without any further contact from police. She then decided to waive her right to anonymity to speak to The Athletic and detail her concerns about the adequacy of the police investigation.
After this publication had contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment, she received an email from an officer who said he was partly responsible for “managing child abuse investigations” to apologise for the delay in reviewing her case, saying it had been “mis-filed”.
Ronnie engaged with the police and this week, nearly two months after she submitted her appeal, she received another email saying her case will be re-opened.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “We recognise the courage it takes for someone to report a sexual offence to police and we are committed to ensuring those who take this step are properly supported and have their allegations thoroughly investigated.
“At the conclusion of this investigation in September this year, a decision was taken that no further action would be taken and those involved were informed.
“After one of the two women exercised the victim’s right to review the outcome of this investigation a decision was taken to re-open this investigation. We have informed the woman of this decision.
“Anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence is urged to contact police at the earliest opportunity so you can be provided with support and your allegations investigated.”
Mulcahey, centre, during this time at Fulham (Photo: Deena Greaves)
In October, Nazir Afzal OBE, the former chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, described the police’s apparent handling of Ronnie and her team-mates’ allegations against Mulcahey as “unacceptable”.
“All four of them ought to have been dealt with separately and they should all have had some correspondence or communication as to what progress, if any, has been made,” he said. “What you have described to me is unacceptable.”
Separately, the Metropolitan Police’s handling of other allegations of non-recent sexual assault is under the spotlight after it emerged that the force took no action over complaints from 19 out of the 21 women who came forward to report abuse by the former Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed before his death aged 94 in 2023.
Al Fayed did not face any criminal charges while he was alive but, since reporting by the BBC in September, the Metropolitan Police has said it has been contacted by numerous victims of the former football club and Harrods owner, “some reporting multiple offences, bringing the total known new victims to 90.”
The force said in November its “detectives are also actively reviewing all previous investigations to identify any missed opportunities” with regards to Al Fayed and it has “already reviewed more than 50,000 pages of evidence, including victim and impact statements, and retrieved significant amounts of material from these investigations stored in our archives.”
As reported by The Athletic in October, Ronnie said she was twice sexually assaulted by Al Fayed at his luxury London department store, Harrods, in 2000 when she was aged 20. She said she had stayed largely silent at the time for fear of costing her team-mates — part of the first professional women’s team in England — their jobs.
Ronnie Gibbons, front left, and Deena Greeves, back row, second from left, with Al Fayed at Craven Cottage in 2000 (Getty Images)
But Ronnie — and her former team-mates Deena Greaves (nee Rahman) and Claire, who we will identify only by her first name — decided they have been silent for too long and opted to talk to The Athletic about Mulcahey, too. Separately over a series of video calls, they independently detailed the abuse they say they suffered and how they felt let down by the police not investigating their complaints thoroughly enough. The Athletic also spoke to numerous other Fulham players, staff and family members associated with the club from 1992 to 2005, who wished to remain anonymous to protect their current positions.
Ronnie, Deena and Claire also claimed that Mulcahey had sexual relationships with five Fulham Ladies players over more than a decade and created a “web” of mistrust among team-mates, many of whom said they were told to keep their experiences with him quiet to avoid destroying his or their careers.
When contacted in October, Mulcahey did not deny having adult sexual relationships with Ronnie or Deena but was strong in his denial of having had “any sexual relationships with minors” and categorically denied he “indecently assaulted Ronnie Gibbons when she was a minor”.
The English Football Association does not publish details of individual safeguarding cases and, in a case such as that of Mulcahey, it is not publicly known if he is suspended by English football’s governing body or if he is eligible to work in football at the moment.
An FA spokesperson said: “We have robust safeguarding measures in place and all referrals to us are handled in line with our policies and procedures. We investigate and assess all allegations and concerns about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children and adults at risk in football and, where applicable, can impose proportionate safeguarding measures in accordance with FA safeguarding regulations. We do not comment on individual cases.”
Fulham said in a statement to The Athletic in October: “The club was informed by police in 2021 of historic allegations related to a former staff member. We immediately engaged with all relevant statutory and regulatory bodies — including the police, the local authority, and the FA — to assist as requested with the criminal investigation. The Club was advised that it should not conduct any internal inquiry, to avoid compromising this investigation.
“The allegations are troubling and sadden everyone at the club. Our commitment to safeguarding is longstanding and absolute. We have robust policies and practices in place to protect the safety and wellbeing of all of our supporters, staff, players and participants. We welcome hearing from anyone impacted.”
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(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
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