Footballer branded rapist by judge back in the game
SHAMED footballer David Goodwillie is back in the Scottish game only two months after quitting a club to concentrate on his appeal against being branded a rapist by a judge.
In January, Goodwillie, 27, and David Robertson, 30, were ruled to have raped a woman who was too drunk to consent following a night out in Bathgate, West Lothian, in 2011.
The pair – then team-mates at Dundee United – did not face a criminal prosecution but victim Denise Clair successfully claimed £100,000 from them in a civil action at the Court of Session.
After the case, in which Goodwillie was slated for giving evidence ‘with a view to his own interests’ rather than the truth, he left his club Plymouth Argyle to focus on his appeal.
But yesterday Scottish League Two team Clyde revealed they have signed the former internationalist. Stirling-born Goodwillie – once worth £2.8million – may play against Cowdenbeath today.
In a statement released online, Clyde FC bosses wrote: ‘The club can confirm the addition of David Goodwillie to the first team squad.
‘The former Dundee United, Aberdeen and Plymouth Argyle player, 28, has signed until the end of the season. The forward goes straight into the squad for tomorrow’s League Two match at Cowdenbeath.’
The Cumbernauld-based club did not respond to further requests for comment on their decision to hire Goodwillie.
The club also failed to announce the signing on social media, where fans were less than impressed by the move.
George Lennox questioned the move, writing: ‘So Clyde FC can you explain why we have signed a rapist? Are we not a family club? I urge the club to rethink this, it’s a very bad move.’
Tom McClure branded the decision ‘immoral’, saying: ‘I bet the female staff are delighted with their new signing.’
Contacted via his agent, Goodwillie did not respond to a request for comment. But his solicitor confirmed that his appeal against the January decision is ‘ongoing’.
In the case, Miss Clair, who was 24 at the time of the rape, told the court how she woke up naked and in pain in an unfamiliar flat.
She also told how the experience had driven her to consider taking her own life.
Goodwillie – who married spa worker Kirstie Smith, 24, in June last year as the case against him went on – protested his innocence, saying he did not believe Miss Clair had been too drunk to consent. But the court also heard from a witness who said she had been in need of an ambulance because of her drunken state.
Fallen idol – Page 109