Women’s team cut ties with Raith Rovers over David Goodwillie signing

Raith Rovers’ women’s team are cutting ties with the club as the backlash against the signing of David Goodwillie intensified on Wednesday.

The announcement that the Kirkcaldy club was signing the former Clyde striker – who was found by a civil court in 2017 to have raped a woman – prompted anger and disgust from supporters and a string of resignations of senior Raith officials.

After withdrawing her shirt sponsorship of the club, the bestselling crime novelist Val McDermid confirmed on Wednesday that she would fund new shirts for the women’s side, which will be printed without the Raith Rovers crest, as the team arrange to play their next fixture this Sunday away from Starks Park, at another ground in the town.

A further statement released by the Rovers management on Tuesday evening, which insisted the signing was “a football-related decision”, further inflamed tensions.

On Wednesday Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said: “What it effectively seemed to be saying was it didn’t matter how a man treated a woman, the only thing that mattered to them was whether he could score goals for the football club.”

She added: “Football players are role models and football clubs have a responsibility to make sure they are positive role models for the wee boys and the wee girls who look up to them. This is a player who was found in a civil court, albeit on the balance of probabilities, to have raped a woman and as far as I’m aware has not shown any remorse or reflection for that. Raith Rovers really do have to reflect on the message that sends.”

Goodwillie and his former Dundee United teammate David Robertson were sued for damages for rape by Denise Clair, who waived her right to anonymity, in a landmark case in 2017.

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