Clyde women’s team quit after David Goodwillie returns to club

Goodwillie has rejoined Clyde on loan after his move to Raith Rovers was met with fierce backlash

David Goodwillie has returned to Clyde on loan until the end of the season (PA Archive)

Clyde FC’s women’s team have announced that they will break away from the club after its decision to sign David Goodwillie on loan from Raith Rovers.

Goodwillie, who was ruled to be a rapist in a civil court, spent five years at Clyde before joining Raith Rovers.

His move to Rovers prompted a fierce wave of backlash, with crime writer Val McDermid withdrawing her sponsorship and the women’s team breaking away from the club. They are now known as McDermid Ladies.

The Raith Rovers board eventually conceded they had made a significant error and pledged that Goodwillie would never play for the club.

He was subsequently loaned back to Clyde, but the general manager of the women’s team, David McGoldrick, has since resigned.

In a Facebook post, a message written on behalf of the team said: “All of the players in the ladies team have discussed the situation with the general manager/secretary and they are ALL in agreement that we no longer wish to play for Clyde FC. This will start with immediate effect.

“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.”

McDermid praised Clyde Ladies’ decision, saying: “I think the world has changed in the last five years. The societal acceptance of violence against women has shifted quite considerably. And what would have been a very difficult thing for them to do before has become something that is more possible now.

“With all social movements you need someone to kick the door open and the McDermid Ladies have kicked the door open and the sky didn’t fall in.

“The women at Clyde will have seen the breadth of positive response to what happened at Raith and will have been heartened by that.”