A FOOTBALL club has been told it will be booted from its home ground if it signs alleged rapist David Goodwillie.
Glasgow City Council has issued an ultimatum to Shettleston juniors team Glasgow United over concerns the side has signed the former Scotland striker.
In 2017, Goodwillie was found by a civil court to have raped a woman and was ordered to pay £100,000 in damages to the victim.
Susan Aitken, the leader of Glasgow City Council, has issued a statement after it was reported Goodwillie played for Glasgow United in a friendly match against Pollok last week.
She said the council, which owns the team’s home ground in the East End, could “walk away” from the deal which allows Glasgow United use of the facility.
In a statement, Aitken said: “David Goodwillie has been found, in court, to be a rapist.
“However, in more than 12 years, he has never once shown any kind of contrition or remorse.
“Any club that signs him is making a very clear statement about its attitude to the safety of women and girls – both in sport and in its community.
READ MORE: David Goodwillie has contract cancelled in Australia after backlash
“It would be an outrageous decision, wholly at odds with how community facilities like Greenfield should be run.
“I’ve asked officers to look at the council’s agreement with Glasgow United and made it clear that I’m ready for the city to walk away.”
Goodwillie has been dropped by a number of clubs because of the 2017 court case, most recently by Australian team FC Sorrento.
It is not known whether the 34-year-old has signed for Glasgow United and the club was approached for comment.
He made his first public comments in the six years since the ruling in an interview with the podcaster James English last week, insisting he was “innocent”.
He said: “I’m an innocent man. I still say to this day, I’m walking about free, I’m not on the sex offenders register, I’ve not got any charges for this, I don’t even have a criminal record anymore.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel