Clyde terminate David Goodwillie’s loan after council bans him from stadium
David Goodwillie’s return to Clyde is over, after the club announced they were ending his contract days after agreeing a loan deal.
The Scottish League One side released a statement late on Thursday announcing they were “in the process of terminating the loan agreement”. That came in the wake of North Lanarkshire council, which owns Broadwood Stadium where Clyde play their home games, announcing it was banning the footballer from the ground.
Clyde women’s team quit club over signing of David Goodwillie
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Clyde confirmed on Tuesday that they had signed the 32-year-old, who was found by a judge in a civil case in 2017 to have raped a woman, on loan from Raith until the end of the season.
The move came after Goodwillie‘s move to Raith sparked outrage, with the club later admitting “we got it wrong” with the signing. He returned to Clyde, where he had played for several years and was previously club captain.
North Lanarkshire council then announced it was banning him from entering the ground. The local authority, which had not had full control of the venue when Goodwillie was first signed in 2017, told the club: “Goodwillie must not be permitted access to the stadium, for any purpose, with immediate effect.”
A spokesperson for the council said: “Should Mr Goodwillie enter the stadium, we will consider the contract to have been breached and we will take immediate steps to terminate it. In addition, we have informed Clyde FC that the council intends not to renew the lease with the club when the contract for the use of Broadwood Stadium expires in May 2023.”
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In light of that Clyde released a statement at 10.26pm on Thursday, which said: “The club are tonight in the process of terminating the loan agreement with Raith Rovers for David Goodwillie.”
Clyde’s signing of Goodwillie on loan also prompted their women’s team to quit in protest. The general manager and secretary of the women’s team resigned, with the players “all in agreement that we no longer wish to play for Clyde FC”.
In a statement they said: “As a group of female footballers all we wish to do is play the sport that we love, but due to the current circumstances we are unable to do this.”