Goodwillie is released after club ‘misstep’

David Goodwillie, the disgraced former Scotland international, has been released from English seventh-tier side Radcliffe after they took the decision to select him without announcing that he had signed a contract.

The striker was named among the Northern Premier League club’s starting XI to take on Belper Town on Tuesday night, and scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 win.

Radcliffe issued a statement yesterday to apologise for their “misstep” in signing him, having made no communication to supporters about his arrival. The signing happened “very quickly” the club said, and they were unable to disclose details of the deal prior to Goodwillie playing.

“We can confirm that David Goodwillie has left the club,” Radcliffe said. “As a club, we have always been about second chances and have been a part of many players’ and staff members’ rehabilitation along that journey. We’ve always given people a chance to improve their life and found support in this endeavour.

“When the club were presented with David Goodwillie that same logic was applied, but in this case it’s clear that was a significant misstep and our due diligence should have been of a much higher standard. The focus was misplaced and as a growing Community Club we realise that our impacts are also more widely felt, too. This was a bridge too far.”

Goodwillie and former Dundee United team-mate David Robertson were ruled by a civil court judge to have raped a woman after a night out in 2011 and ordered to pay her £100,000 in damages.

No criminal case was ever brought against Goodwillie or Robertson after the Crown Office deemed there was insufficient evidence. Goodwillie maintains his innocence, saying they had consensual sex.

But Goodwillie, 33, has since seen his professional career come to a halt, having been released by Clyde twice, as well as Raith Rovers, because of fan opposition to his signing.