Author McDermid quits as Raith sponsor in protest at Goodwillie deal

LONDON : Crime writer Val McDermid has withdrawn her sponsorship of Scottish Championship club Raith Rovers after its decision to sign former Scotland striker David Goodwillie.

Goodwillie and former Dundee United team mate David Robertson were ruled by a civil court judge in 2017 to have raped a woman after a night out in 2011 and ordered to pay her 100,000 pounds damages.

No criminal case was ever brought against Goodwillie or Robertson after the Crown Office deemed there to be insufficient evidence. He maintains his innocence, saying they had consensual sex.

Lifelong fan McDermid, who backs the Kirkcaldy club and has her name as a shirt sponsor, said she would be ending her association with Raith.

"I have this morning ended my lifelong support of @RaithRovers over their signing of the rapist David Goodwillie. I have cancelled next season's shirt sponsorship over this disgusting and despicable move.

"This shatters any claim to be a community or family club."

"The thought of the rapist David Goodwillie running out on the pitch at Starks Park in a @RaithRovers shirt with my name on it makes me feel physically sick."

Goodwillie was signed on Monday from Clyde on a permanent deal until the end of the 2023-24 season.

Raith's women's team captain Tyler Rattray has also quit the club in protest.

"After 10 long years playing for Raith, it's gutting I have given up now because they have signed someone like this and I want nothing to do with it," she said on Twitter.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also weighed in to support the stances of McDermid and Rattray.

"The fact they're in this position at all reminds us that our society still has a way to go to make zero tolerance of sexual violence a reality," Sturgeon said.

Goodwillie,