‘Shameful’ to let David Goodwillie keep playing, says woman he assaulted
It is “shameful” that David Goodwillie was allowed to continue playing football after being found by a court to have committed rape, the woman he assaulted has said.
Denise Clair hit out at the footballing authorities, accusing them of being “complicit” with their “silence”.
Clair, 30, spoke out for the first time since Raith Rovers’ signing of the player sparked a furious backlash from fans – with the author and club sponsor Val McDermid and former prime minister Gordon Brown amongst those criticising the club.
The signing also saw the women’s team break their ties with the club, with the team – now known as the McDermid Ladies – playing their first match on Sunday backed by the bestselling crime writer.
Raith Rovers eventually backed down and announced on Thursday that Goodwillie would not play for them after all. The chairman, John Sim, conceded that they “got it wrong” when they signed the 32-year-old.
At a civil case at the court of session in Edinburgh in 2017, Goodwillie and his former Dundee United teammate, David Robertson, were judged to have raped Clair and ordered to pay her damages of £100,000.
Robertson has since retired from professional football. No criminal charges have been brought against either of them.
Goodwillie joined Championship team Raith Rovers from Scottish League One side Clyde, where he had been a player for five years. But Clair criticised the footballing authorities over their stance, saying: “Their silence deafened me.”
She told the Sunday Post newspaper: “It’s shameful they have allowed Goodwillie to continue playing all these years without taking any action. They are just as complicit as him and Robertson with their silence and looking the other way.”
She insisted: “It is not enough for the footballing authorities, the league, the SFA [Scottish Football Association] to stay silent on this. They talk so much about equality and respect but when faced with actual reality instead of waffle, their silence deafened me.
“There needs to be officials who do nothing but ensure players and clubs are properly made aware of their responsibilities. They should be developing educational programmes about sexual violence. Practical measures, not warm words about nothing, could promote real change.”
The SFA has been contacted for comment.