Less than 24 hours after announcing his signing, the lower level football side are tearing up the contract of disgraced footballer David Goodwillie after announcing his signing following backlash from fans
David Goodwillie’s stint with an Australian football club lasted less than a day after his contract was terminated following fan backlash.
On Wednesday morning, Perth-based Sorrento FC announced the arrival of the former Premier League star, who was caught raping a woman by a British civil judge.
A statement on Facebook praised Goodwillie’s arrival, saying he is “a player with real quality and experience.”
However, just hours later, the club turned around and confirmed that the 34-year-old will not be playing for them. The Facebook post has since been deleted.
“David was due to arrive in Perth within a week to play the remainder of the 2023 NPLM season with the club,” the statement said.
An Australian football club has made a U-turn over the signing of a disgraced footballer
David Goodwillie was convicted by a civil judge of raping a woman in 2017
The scheme was non-commercial in nature.
“The club has informed David of its decision and apologizes to anyone in our football and wider community who may have been offended by his signing.”
In 2017, a civil judge ruled that Goodwillie and his former Dundee United teammate David Robertson had raped a woman in 2011 and ordered the pair to pay £100,000 – approximately $200,000.
Goodwillie has maintained his innocence and no criminal case has ever been brought against him.
He has struggled to find a club in recent years, with English non-league side Radcliffe FC apologizing for what they called a ‘significant misstep’ in signing Goodwillie earlier this year, leaving him behind only one game off.
Scottish club Raith Rovers also faced stiff backlash after signing him in September 2022, with club sponsor and author Val McDermid criticizing the move, as did former first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Fans rioted at the signing and several board members resigned, while the club’s women’s squad quit in protest. North Lanarkshire Council, the owners of Rovers’ stadium, banned him from playing home games.
Goodwillie has played in England’s top flight with Blackburn Rovers, as well as in the Scottish Premiership with Dundee and Aberdeen.
Goodwillie previously played for Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League and Sorrento FC coach Steve McGarry hailed the signing as a ‘real quality player’, but the club has since changed its mind