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Football

04th Mar 2022

Clyde terminate David Goodwillie’s loan after he was banned from stadium

Daniel Brown

Goodwillie re-signed for Clyde on Tuesday

Clyde has announced that the club have ended David Goodwillie’s contract just days after he signed for them on loan from Raith Rovers.

Goodwillie re-joined Clyde on loan from Raith until the end of the season, after Rovers were heavily criticised for signing the striker who was ruled to be a rapist in civil court in 2017.

However, the Cinch Scottish League One side have opted to terminate the loan agreement with the striker after North Lanarkshire Council, which owns Broadwood Stadium where Clyde play their home games, announced it was banning the footballer from the ground.

The local authority told the club: “Goodwillie must not be permitted access to the stadium, for any purpose, with immediate effect.”

A spokesperson for the council said: “Should Mr Goodwillie enter the stadium, we will consider the contract to have been breached and we will take immediate steps to terminate it. In addition, we have informed Clyde FC that the council intends not to renew the lease with the club when the contract for the use of Broadwood Stadium expires in May 2023.”

The 32-year-old’s transfer to Raith received intense criticism, with the club later admitting “we got it wrong” with the signing.

He returned to Clyde on loan, where he had played for several years, becoming the top goalscorer and club captain.

On Thursday night, Clyde released a statement announcing they were in the process of ending the loan agreement with Raith.

It read: “The club are tonight in the process of terminating the loan agreement with Raith Rovers for David Goodwillie.”

Clyde’s addition of Goodwillie led to the departure of the entire women’s team, who quit the club in protest. The general manager and secretary of the women’s also team resigned, with the players “all in agreement that we no longer wish to play for Clyde FC”.

In a statement they 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.”

Goodwillie and his former teammate David Robertson were ruled by a judge to have raped Denise Clair – who waived her right to anonymity – after a night out in West Lothian.

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