RAITH ROVERS have confirmed today that they "got it wrong" by signing David Goodwillie from Scottish League One club Clyde.The club have confirmed the controversial striker will not play for the club after receiving backlash for the decision.
Goodwillie is a former Scottish international and was ruled to be a rapist in a civil court case in 2017, although no criminal proceedings were instructed.
The 32-year-old was ordered to pay £100,000 in damages by a judge after it was ruled he raped a woman in a flat in West Lothian in 2011.
The Crown had previously decided not to prosecute Goodwillie due to insufficient evidence.
The striker, who has three Scotland caps, is currently the top scorer in the SPFL, having netted 15 times for Clyde so far this season.
He previously played for clubs including Dundee United, Blackburn Rovers and Aberdeen.
In a statement on it's website this week Raith Rovers issued a statement backing the signing of the 32-year-old.
It read"
As with all new signings, the club has carefully considered our position as a Community Club and we completely respect the differing views among fans and stakeholders, many of whom we have spoken to directly in the past 24 hours and are continuing to engage with.
As David has previously played for Raith Rovers earlier in his career, we consider him to be part of Raith Rovers Football Club. The management team is familiar with David’s career and background and – in particular – his footballing ability. That is our foremost consideration, and we believe that he will strengthen the Raith Rovers playing squad.
Please be assured that as a community football club we fully acknowledge this signing has divided opinion amongst our loyal fans and commercial stakeholders; We aim to rebuild that trust.
While acknowledging the gravity of what happened ten years ago, as a club we fully support and encourage rehabilitation, and many factors influenced our signing.
First and foremost, this was a football related decision."
CLUB STATEMENT | Raith Rovers have released the following statement regarding David Goodwillie, to confirm that the player will not represent the club.
Discussions are underway with the player regarding his contractual position:https://t.co/JD5HW4Q30c pic.twitter.com/efOc51Bc9p— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) February 3, 2022
The club have received huge negative attention over the last couple of days from figures in government like Nicola Sturgeon.
Sturgeon called on the Scottish Professional Football League to take action and intervene after Raith Rovers' controversial signing of the player
"It would be appropriate for the SPFL to take action," Sturgeon said on Wednesday.
"We have to recognise footballers are role models and young boys and girls look up to footballers so there is a responsibility on football clubs to make sure those role models are positive.
"We are talking about a football player who in a civil court was found to have raped a woman, who as far as I'm aware, has never expressed any real remorse or reflection and I think that sends a really damaging message.
"I think it tells us that while we talk about the importance of tackling sexual violence and abuse of women, we have an awful long way to go to make zero tolerance of sexual violence as a reality.
"I hope Raith Rovers reflect carefully on the groundswell of opinion that has been expressed from all walks of life, but most particular from their own fans, and perhaps think again about this decision."
The women's team have also moved to break ties with the club over Goodwillie's appointment and two directors resigned in protest.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Raith Rovers should reconsider the signing of David Goodwillie. pic.twitter.com/14ZXZkyU1n
— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) February 2, 2022
Chairman John Sim has since reversed the decision and in a statement, the club said:
"I firstly want to apologise wholeheartedly to our fans, sponsors, players and the wider Raith Rovers community for the anguish and anger caused over the past few days.
We got it wrong.
In reaching our original decision, we focused far too much on football matters and not enough on what this decision would mean for our club and the community as a whole.
Over the past couple of days, we listened carefully to the fans who have got in touch and I’m very grateful for their honesty. As chairman, as a board and as a management team, we have all learned a hard but valuable lesson.
This very unfortunate episode is something that we all bitterly regret and we are now wholly committed to making things right. I can therefore confirm that, following a meeting of the Raith Rovers board, the player will not be selected by Raith Rovers and we will enter into discussions with the player regarding his contractual position.
We share a desire to do what is best for our club and will be doing everything in our power to regain the trust and confidence of the Raith Rovers family.
Chairman
On Behalf of the Board of Raith Rovers FC
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