Decency must be the goal for our role models
My 18-year-old came wandering down the stairs last weekend, clutching his phone, a look of abject horror on his face.
“Have you seen the news?” he said, which was unusual because he pays very little attention to the news himself.
“Mason Greenwood’s been accused of rape. There’s stuff posted on social media.”
I’d never heard of Greenwood and had no idea – at the time – that he was a rising star of football, a 20-year-old hotshot for Manchester United and England, tipped for greatness by no less than Sir Alex Ferguson.
But my son could tell me everything about him, even while stunned and horrified at the allegations. He then went off to “Insta-chat” to all his friends about it.
Whether we like it or not, the behaviour of footballers cuts through to young folk in a way that BoJo’s lockdown partying or Putin’s invasion plans for Ukraine never will. Their influence is massive, impacting well beyond their sport.
No one can seriously claim that these young men do not hold an exalted position in our society, commanding attention and adulation from those notoriously “hard to reach” young adults, showing off lifestyles which fans envy and long to emulate, in equal measure.
From the moment they pull on the shirt of a professional player, they become role models for every kid out there who’ll cheer their name when they score a goal or run rings around an opponent or block an “unstoppable” shot.
This shouldn’t be an onerous position for them. They’re not expected to be saintsaints – just decent and responsible. They’rey’re forgiven for a lot of what is jokinglyy dismissed as “daft boy-ness”.
And so to David Goodwillie, a Dundee United protege and former Blackburn Rovers player found to be a rapist by a Scottish civil court.
Frankly, I’d hoped neverr to hear his name again, never mind have to explain his background to my sons. But, through his arrogant desire to return to the higher footballing ranks, I found myself being quizzed by my boys on justst why the decision of Raith Rovers to sign him was so sickening.
Why was it so important that everyone add their howl of protest to that of bestselling author, lifelong Raith supporter and (former) shirt sponsor Val McDermid and others involved in the club, though – notably – not the male players?
Raith Rovers have been forced to backtrack, issue a grovelling apology, insist they have learned a “hard but valuable lesson”. Sorry for the cynicism but I find myself wondering whether the lesson they’ve learned is the value of a good PR expert.
Val, who has been a principled, powerful voice in this whole debacle, says the club’s reversal is “just the first step on a long road back”.
Indeed. There is much which is difficult to forgive. Raith Rovers manager John McGlynn was so desperate to secure his club’s promotion that he was prepared to put “money over
morals”, as director Bill Clark put it while resigning in disgust. Four members of the board supported his proposal to sign Goodwillie. The first-team captain said the player had the support of the dressing room.
All of them, it seems, forgot the victim in all this, whose identity and trauma has once again been thrust into the spotlight by Goodwillie, 11 years after she first encountered him.
The woman only took a civil action when prosecutors decided not to proceed with a criminal trial through lack of evidence. She was awarded £10100,000 compensation from Goodwillie Goodwil and co-accused David Robertson Rober when a judge found they had raped her. Goodwillie then lost an appeal in front of three thr Court of Session judges.
Incredibly,I he’s been able to plyp his trade relatively unnoticed un for the past five years, having played for third-tier third club Clyde, where attendances attend tend to number in the hundreds. He was successfully succ flying under the radar. rad And boy do Clyde have serious questions to answer on this now.
But what is difficult to understand is why the player himself didn’t have the sense to thank hhis llucky stars. He should have been marvelling at his own good fortune. It seems he wanted more.
There has been much chatter about “rehabilitation” but you can’t begin to rehabilitate someone who doesn’t show remorse or contrition or accept responsibility. No rapist can ever expect to live life like it never happened, whether they be a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher or a footballer. The victims certainly don’t get their old lives back again.
Make no mistake… generations of young men (and women) are watching this stramash play out, paying attention to this news story like they do few others.
Decisions made in boardrooms have impact – they expose the values of our society.
Doing the right thing belatedly is not the same as doing the right thing from the start.