It’s far from easy but Martindale knows the route to rehabilitation
FOR David Martindale, his journey from a criminal past to a bright future in professional football took him from a prison cell to the dugouts of the Scottish Premiership.
Handed a six-and-a-half year sentence in 2006 for involvement in serious and organised crime, the now-Livingston boss owned up fully to his failings and set about turning his life around.
Admitting his motivation for his crimes was ‘purely greed’, he confessed in an interview after taking the manager’s job in West Lothian in December 2020: ‘I deserved everything coming my way. From day one I knew I was pleading guilty. I was guilty and the only way to put it “right” — if that’s the correct word for it — was to take my punishment.’
While awaiting trial, Martindale enrolled at Heriot-Watt University to do a construction project management degree, eventually earning a 2:1 with honours.
Working on a construction site, he volunteered at Livingston on a Tuesday and Thursday morning, putting out cones and bibs under the management of John McGlynn; now manager of under-fire Raith Rovers.
He would work his way up to the top job at the Tony Macaroni Arena, backed by the testimony of a respected Hillsborough academic.
Professor Phil Scraton cited Martindale’s rehabilitation, contrition and humility as proof he should pass the Scottish FA’s fit and proper person test. He was duly given the green light to take over as manager on a permanent basis.
Livingston also have a recent history of giving second chances to footballers who have fallen foul of the law.
Two key members of the squad that won promotion to the Premiership in 2017-18 were defenders Alan Lithgow and Declan Gallagher.
Lithgow was placed on the sex offenders’ register in 2008 while playing for Clyde. Gallagher served 16 months of a three-year prison sentence for his part in the assault of a man in Blantyre in 2013. Gallagher would go on to become a full Scotland international, playing a pivotal part in helping the country to qualify for Euro 2020.
Against that backdrop, Martindale was asked yesterday for his views on the case of Raith Rovers pariah David Goodwillie.
Accused of raping Denise Clair in 2011, alongside Dundee United team-mate David Robertson, the Crown said there was insufficient evidence to bring the case to a criminal court.
But six years later, following a civil case, Lord Armstrong ruled former Scotland international Goodwillie and Robertson had raped the woman and their victim successfully claimed £100,000 from them in damages. Goodwillie has never acknowledged his guilt and his signing on deadline day by the Stark’s Park side from League One club Clyde on a two-and-a-half year deal created a storm.
The furious backlash saw Rovers perform a U-turn yesterday and declare Goodwillie will never play for them, while plans are made to terminate his contract.
While Martindale remains a passionate advocate of football’s ability to help rehabilitate offenders, he believes there must be an admission of guilt before any redemption is possible.
‘I’m a massive believer in rehabilitation,’ he said. ‘There are boundaries to rehabilitation, admitting guilt and stuff like that, and there are different barriers there, so it (the Goodwillie case) is a little bit different to my case. I pled guilty in court, went to prison and accepted my crime. It’s probably not my place to comment too deeply on that. But I genuinely can see it from both points of view, as well.
‘David has been playing in League One for five years and now he’s moved to Raith Rovers and it’s all gone very, very public. Should that maybe have happened five years ago? The boy’s been playing football for five years.
‘I believe in rehabilitation. But I also believe to do rehabilitation properly you’re probably going to have to accept your crime. It’s a very tough subject.
‘There’s been a lot of public opinion. Raith have listened to their fans. They’ve made their case. From Raith’s point of view they’ve made their decision and need to get on with it now but I can understand both sides.’