Non League Radcliffe FC have confirmed that David Goodwillie has left the club and have apologised describing his signing as ‘a significant misstep’.
He was ruled to be a rapist in a civil case in 2017, six years after being initially charged.
No criminal proceedings were instructed against Goodwillie, but he 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.
Goodwillie played for Radcliffe FC last night scoring a hatrick in their 4-2 win over Belper Town.
In a statement the club said
“we’ve always given people a chance to improve their life and found support in this endeavour.”
When the Club were presented with David Goodwillie that same logic was applied, but in this case it’s clear that was a significant misstep and our due diligence should have been of a much higher standard. We can vouch for all the people at the Club involved in this signing did so out of the desire to do a good thing for an individual with an admittedly tainted past as we have done so successfully before but this was a bridge too far.”
