Abuse probe blankets London

Allegations of historical sex abuse have been made against all five London clubs in the Premier League, the Metropolitan Police Service announced on Monday.

The five clubs swept up in the scandal that has rocked English soccer since former Crewe Alexandra youth player Andy Woodward went public in November are Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and West Ham.

Some of the claims go as far back as the 1960s.

The police figures mean the number of Premier League clubs that have been connected with the investigation has risen by one from last month when the figure given out by England's National Police Chiefs Council was four.

London police said the allegations involve a total of 77 clubs in the capital. Three teams in the second tier Championship and three in League One and League Two are among those that have received 255 allegations of sex abuse.

"On Dec 8 the Metropolitan Police Service confirmed it had launched an investigation into allegations of non-recent sexual abuse at football clubs in London," said the official statement.

"As of Monday, 30 January, the investigative team, with officers from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, have received 255 separate allegations.

"The allegations are connected with individuals at 77 named clubs or teams.

"The breakdown for those clubs is: Five in the Premiership; three against Championship clubs; three against clubs in Leagues One and Two; and there have also been 66 other named clubs which would include non-league or non-professional or amateur teams."

Detective chief superintendent Ivan Balhatchet of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said each and every one of the allegations will be looked into, but the Met would not be supplying a running commentary on the investigations or how many allegations have been made against a particular club.

"The Met takes all allegations seriously, and specialist officers will work through the information passed to them," he said.

Overall, the number of clubs that have been mentioned in the investigation stood at 248 according to figures released by the NPCC earlier this month.

The NPCC took pains to point out that does not mean those cubs are actually under investigation, but they have been "referenced when information is submitted."

The number of alleged victims stands at 526, with the youngest aged four and 97 percent of them male.

There are 184 potential suspects who have been identified.