David Goodwillie: Glasgow club threatened with eviction over pursuit of convicted rapist
A ninth-tier Scottish club might lose its dwelling floor if it pursues an curiosity in disgraced striker David Goodwillie.
The 34-year-old former Scotland worldwide was present in a civil case on the Court docket of Session in Edinburgh in 2017 to have raped a girl.
Goodwillie reportedly performed as a trialist for West of Scotland Soccer League facet Glasgow United in a pleasant final week, and town council is now threatening to ban the club from the Greenfield Soccer Centre in Shettleston if he joins them.
In a press release on Glasgow Metropolis Council’s official Twitter account, chief Susan Aitken stated: “David Goodwillie has been discovered, in court docket, to be a rapist. Nevertheless, in additional than 12 years, he has by no means as soon as proven any sort of contrition or regret. Any club that indicators him is making a really clear assertion about its angle to the security of girls and women – each in sport and in its neighborhood.
“It might be an outrageous resolution, wholly at odds with how neighborhood services like Greenfield must be run. I’ve requested officers to take a look at the council’s settlement with Glasgow United and made it clear that I’m prepared for town to stroll away.”
Goodwillie – who continues to protest his innocence – and his former Dundee United team-mate, David Robertson, had been judged to have raped Denise Clair. The 2 males, who’ve by no means confronted legal prices in relation to the allegation, had been ordered to pay damages of £100,000 to Ms Clair, who waived her proper to anonymity.
Goodwillie left Plymouth by mutual consent within the wake of the court docket ruling and spent virtually 5 years at Clyde regardless of criticism of the club’s resolution to supply him employment. Nevertheless, subsequent strikes to Raith Rovers, Northern Premier League Radcliffe and Australian outfit FC Sorrento collapsed amid fierce criticism.
