Southampton - Southampton Football Club yesterday pledged to stand by its manager, Mr Dave Jones, after he was charged with a number of sex offences against children. The club said the former Everton defender and father-of-four continued to "strongly maintain his innocence".
The 43-year-old manager was formally charged with nine offences when he returned to a Merseyside police station yesterday morning to answer bail. The allegations date back to the 1980s when Mr Jones was employed as a care worker at a children's home in north Merseyside.