Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Goodwillie plays for amateur side
DAVID Goodwillie has made an unexpected return to football with a Perthshire team only months after a sheriff ruled he raped a woman.
The shamed former Scotland star, 27, scored twice i n the Doune Castle Amateurs match against Strathclyde University, which they lost 4-3.
Goodwillie left professional football after a judge ruled he had raped Denise Clair, 30, who has waived her right to anonymity.
Lord Armstrong ruled Goodwillie and ex-Tannadice team-mate David Robertson, 30, had assaulted Ms Clair on a night out.
The pair have insisted she consented to sex with them on January 2 2011.
Ms Clair brought proceedings against Goodwillie and Robertson after criminal proceedings against them had been dropped due to insufficient evidence. The incident happened just hours after both players appeared for United in their 1-1 draw at Aberdeen on New Year’s Day 2011. Goodwillie scored a last-minute equaliser in the game. The woman said she could not remember what had happened since she was in a Bathgate bar until she woke up in the strange flat the following morning.
Lord Armstrong said: “In the result, therefore, I find that in the early hours of Sunday January 2, 2011, at the flat in Greig Crescent, Armadale, both defenders (the footballers) took advantage of the pursuer when she was vulnerable through an excessive intake of alcohol and, because her cognitive functioning and decision making processes were so impaired, was incapable of giving meaningful consent; and that they each raped her.”
Goodwillie had been playing for Plymouth Argyle but left the club “by mutual consent” after the ruling was made.
Doune Castle AFC are the current reigning Premier Division champions in the Caledonian League.
Goodwillie and Robertson were ordered to pay £100,000 in damages to Miss Clair at the Court of Session in Edinburgh earlier this year.
Goodwillie’s lawyer Derek Stillie said the former Aberdeen and Dundee United striker had yet to begin the appeals process.
He is reportedly facing bankruptcy after being told to settle a large legal bill in one go.
He had hoped to pay back the £15,000 due to lawyers at a rate of £500 a month.