Clyde women’s team quit club over signing of David Goodwillie

Clyde’s women’s team have dramatically quit the club after the men’s side re-signed David Goodwillie, as the backlash against the striker – found by a civil court in 2017 to have raped a woman – showed no sign of abating.

North Lanarkshire Council – which owns the club’s stadium – threatened to end Clyde’s lease early if they allow Goodwillie into Broadwood and will not renew the lease when it expires next year, stating it had “a responsibility to the wider community to act, and to send a clear signal that abuse must not be tolerated”.

The Scottish League One side Clyde confirmed the loan signing of Goodwillie from Raith Rovers until the end of the season on Monday.

The announcement at the end of January that the Kirkcaldy club were signing the 32-year-old from Clyde prompted anger and disgust from supporters and a string of resignations of senior Raith officials.

Val McDermid, the best-selling crime author and a devoted Raith fan, immediately withdrew her shirt sponsorship, denouncing the signing as “disgusting and despicable”.

Now the entire playing squad of Clyde’s women’s team and the general manager David McGoldrick have followed the lead of Raith Rovers’ women’s team, who cut ties with the men’s club and renamed themselves McDermid Ladies after the novelist stepped in to pay for new strips, without the club crest.

In a statement, the women’s team 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.”

Welcoming their announcement, McDermid told the Guardian: “I’m glad to see Clyde Ladies taking a principled stand and I wish them great good luck. The world has moved on over the last five years, and it’s clear that there