Southampton Football Club left a paedophile youth coach "free to continue" his abuse of boys, an independent report has found.
Bob Higgins was jailed for 24 years in 2019 for sexually touching trainees in the 1970s and 1980s.
A report by Barnardo's, commissioned by the club, said its board should have acted on rumours about Higgins which "seemed to be rife".
The club said it had "no excuse" for the failure to act.
Higgins was found guilty of 46 counts of indecent assault on 24 victims, predominantly Southampton and Peterborough United trainees, between 1971 and 1996.