THE former Hampshire Football Association chief accused of sexually assaulting children has claimed he helped to make sure that paedophiles were cut out of the game.

Ray Barnes, told Bournemouth Crown Court how he had acted following the Dunblane school shooting in 1996 to ensure that children’s football coaches were vetted, contacting the Daily Echo to get its support for a campaign and writing to the Home Secretary for a change in the law.

Mr Barnes is accused of indecently assaulting one of the alleged victims after taking him to the 1983 FA Cup final.

When asked, Mr Barnes said that he had taken his family to that match and produced photographs taken of them at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, with a relevant date on the back.

The court heard that one of the alleged victims claimed to have met Mr Barnes at the Bridge Tavern pub in Coxford, Southampton.

Mr Barnes is said to have taken the alleged victim to a football match at The Dell via the players’ entrance.

However, the father-of-four said that he had no recollection of a youth coming into the pub while he was helping there for a three-week period and did not take him to a match. He added that he would not have been able to go into the players’ entrance as he was not a member of the Hampshire FA at the time.

Barnes, 74, of Grateley Close, Weston, Southampton, denies seven counts of indecent assault against three different boys between the mid-1960s and 1983. Judge Samuel Wiggs told the jury that he would be directing them to find a not guilty verdict on one of the counts, because he considered that there was no evidence given on that count.