Clyde bring in fallen idol Goodwillie
DAVID Goodwillie has made a shock return to football with Clyde after the League Two club revealed the former Scotland striker has joined them until the end of the season.
The 28-year-old quit Plymouth Argyle by mutual consent in January after a judge in a civil case ruled that he and former Dundee United team-mate David Robertson raped mother-of-one Denise Clair in 2011.
They were ordered to pay £100,000 in damages. While Robertson subsequently announced his retirement from football, Goodwillie has now been offered a route back into the senior game at Broadwood and has been included in the squad for today’s match at Cowdenbeath.
A statement on Clyde’s website read: ‘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.’
Goodwillie, who won three caps for Scotland, initially made his name at Tannadice before sealing a £2.8million move to Blackburn Rovers in 2011.
But his career failed to take off in England as rape allegations surfaced for the first time.
Goodwillie and Robertson were sued by Ms Clair after prosecutors decided not to pursue her case through the criminal courts.
During the civil action, the court was told how Goodwillie and Robertson had always claimed that intercourse with the woman had been consensual. But Ms Clair insisted she was incapable of consenting to sex because she was so drunk.
At the Court of Session in Edinburgh in January, a judge decided that Ms Clair had been ‘incapable’ of giving consent during the incident, which took place at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian.
Lord Armstrong said the evidence had been ‘cogent, persuasive and compelling’ as he ruled that the two footballers must pay £100,000 in compensation.
Goodwillie’s career stuttered following his move to Ewood Park and he was sent on loan to Crystal Palace, former club United and Blackpool.
He returned north to sign for Aberdeen in 2014 before joining Ross County on loan in January 2016.
He then joined League Two outfit Plymouth Argyle in the summer of 2016 but mutually agreed to terminate his contract seven months later.
Now he looks set to kick-start his career with Clyde, currently second bottom of League Two and under the interim management of Peter MacDonald and Jon Paul McGovern after Barry Ferguson quit as boss in February.