The alleged victim, now aged 52, said he initially thought Francis Cairney was giving him a consoling hug because he was homesick, but was "shocked" when the manager touched him inappropriately.

The 87-year-old is charged with indecently assaulting one boy in the late 1970s and another in the 1980s at football facilities, and a third boy in a hotel room in Aviemore and a car in Cumbernauld.

Cairney, who has dementia, has been found unfit to stand trial for medical reasons and instead an examination of facts hearing is taking place at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The case is being head at Glasgow Sheriff Court

He maintains his plea of not guilty to the charges and has been excused from attending the hearing.

It is alleged Cairney indecently assaulted a boy then aged between 15 and 18 in the dressing room at Barrowfield training ground and at Celtic Park football ground in Glasgow on various occasions between February 1986 and December 1988.

Giving evidence on Monday, the 52-year-old man said he was contracted to Celtic as a teenager and encountered Cairney when, as part of that, he played for the Celtic Boys Club under-16s of which Cairney was manager.

He said on one occasion, after a match at Celtic Park in 1986, he was feeling homesick as he had just returned from his family home abroad to live in Glasgow, and went into the shower room of the dressing room as he was feeling upset.

The case was head at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The witness said Cairney came into the room and asked how he was. Prosecutor Mark Allan asked what happened next.

The man replied: "Francis Cairney put his hands around me in a consoling way I thought at the time. He was holding me and then he put his hand round my lower back. His hand was on top of the side of my leg.

"He moved that hand inside and touched my private parts and my lower stomach."

He added: "I was still in my football kit."

Asked by Mr Allan how he felt at the time, he replied: "I was obviously shocked. I think I was still so sad at having to come back I don't think I really comprehended what happened."

He said when he first encountered Cairney, earlier in 1986, he thought he was "loud, a bit of a bully", and said: "He was very physical towards players, he would be very verbal, aggressive."

The witness also told the court about another incident, later in 1986 or early 1987, when he said Cairney touched him inappropriately in the dressing room at Barrowfield.

He said: "He sat down beside me and hugged me once again and he put his hand inside my leg, similar to the first occasion, and he would have rubbed my neck and he would have moved his hand inside my football gear again and touched my private parts. It was longer that time."

The witness said that in both the incident at Barrowfield and at Celtic Park, Cairney touched him under his clothing.

He also told the court about an incident at Celtic Park, later in the 1986 to 1988 timeframe, when he said the now 87-year-old hugged him and touched the inside of his leg.

Asked about the impact of the incidents, he said: "For many years, I didn't tell my family. I didn't get any help really, but I tried to keep playing the best I could. But I've never really fulfilled what I thought I should have really."

It is also alleged Cairney, from Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, indecently assaulted a different boy aged between 15 and 16 in a car in Paisley and in the dressing rooms at Barrowfield training ground, Celtic's former training ground in Glasgow, on various occasions between July 1978 and June 1979.

The hearing, before Sheriff Tom Hughes, continues.

Celtic Boys Club manager touched 15-year-old's privates in shower room, court told