Radcliffe admit they made a ‘significant misstep’ in signing disgraced striker David Goodwillie – even though he scored a hat-trick on his one and only appearance.
The 33-year-old Scot was a surprise inclusion on the NPL Premier club’s team sheet for their game against Belper Town on Tuesday night after having signed a short-term deal with the Bury-based club.
But despite scoring a hat-trick in a 4-2 win, a furious backlash from supporters ensued, forcing the club to cancel his registration 24 hours later.
Goodwillie, the former Dundee United, Aberdeen and Clyde forward, hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2017 when he was ruled to be a rapist in a civil case, six years after being initially charged.
Due to insufficient evidence, no criminal proceedings were instructed against Goodwillie, but he was ordered to pay £100,000 in damages by a judge after it was ruled he raped a woman in a flat in West Lothian in 2011.
Radcliffe said the move came about “very quickly” and could not be announced before the team sheets were released, describing the situation as “regrettable” but “unavoidable”. They admit they “got it wrong” in signing the three-cap Scotland striker, inset, and say it was a “mistake that will never happen again”.
Impacts
A statement read: “As a club we have always been about second chances and have been a part of many players’ and staff members’ rehabilitation along that journey, we’ve always given people a chance to improve their life and found support in this endeavour.
“When the club was presented with David Goodwillie that same logic was applied, but in this case it’s clear that was a significant misstep and our due diligence should have been of a much higher standard. We can vouch for all the people at the club involved in this signing did so out of the desire to do a good thing for an individual with an admittedly tainted past as we have done so successfully before but this was a bridge too far. “This move came about very quickly, with clearance only granted extremely late leaving us in a position where our media volunteers were unable to release details prior to team sheets being produced – while regrettable this was also unavoidable.
“From the board down to the management team, who we backed, and have always backed on playing decisions – it’s clear that as a whole we got this wrong. The focus was misplaced and as a growing community club we realise that our impacts are also more widely felt too.
“We have always strived to be a source of pride to our town with good and honest intentions, and we think we have made a significant positive impact for our town over the last six years both on and off the field. We sincerely apologise to everyone connected with the club and the community – it’s a mistake that will never happen again.”
The Non-League Paper is published by The Football Paper Ltd, Tuition House, St George’s Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU. Printed by Newsquest Oxfordshire & Wiltshire Ltd, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0EJ. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper.
