LONDON: Former Newcastle youth team coach George Ormond has been charged with 29 counts of historical sexual offences, English prosecutors said on Friday.
Ormond, who was a coach at the Montagu and North Fenham boys' club which fed players to Newcastle United, is facing allegations ranging over two decades from 17 complainants, all of whom are male, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The 61-year-old is due to appear before Newcastle Magistrates' Court on June 9.
"We have had a dedicated team investigating allegations of non-recent child abuse within the sporting community since December last year," Northumbria Police assistant chief constable Darren Best said.
"Our specially trained officers have been supporting those who have taken the hugely brave step of speaking to us.
"Our investigations are continuing and we urge anyone who may have been a victim of abuse or has any information about suspected abuse within any sporting community to come forward and report it to us."
Ormond is the first person to be charged as part of Operation Tide, a police investigation set up late last year to look into allegations of historic child sex abuse at football clubs in the northeast of England.