Following an outcry, David Goodwillie won't be playing for Raith Rovers
February 3, 2022 4:39 AM Subscribe
Scottish Championship football team Raith Rovers recently bought David Goodwillie for an undisclosed sum from League 1 side Clyde. Although he has never been convicted, Goodwillie was one of two footballers successfully sued for rape in a civil case in Edinburgh court of sessions in 2017. £100,000 was awarded to the pursuer Denise Clair (who waived her right to anonymity) with the judge ruling that on the balance of probabilities both footballers raped her. This decision was upheld on appeal. Goodwillie's signing caused an outcry in Kirkcaldy and more broadly in Scotland.
The Scottish First Minister suggested footballing authorities should step in. Two directors resigned. Crime novelist shirt sponsor, Val McDermid withdrew her support, and suggested that the women's and girls' team wanted to cut ties. The women's team captain resigned. Initially the club stood by its decision to sign Goodwillie, because he is a proven goalscorer. However, they have since made a u-turn, decided that they got things wrong and that Goodwillie will not be selected for matches.
This is not the glamorous and excessively paid end of British football. Average wages in the Scottish Championship are around £600 per week, slightly higher than the national average wage and comparable to, for example, the amounts paid to support gold medallist Team GB paralympians. It is not clear yet what will happen to Goodwillie's contract with Raith Rovers, but given that the civil case outcome was known to the club when they signed him, it may well prove to be an expensive mistake.
Goodwillie has already made more than 100 appearances for Clyde since the judgement in the civil court case.
The Scottish First Minister suggested footballing authorities should step in. Two directors resigned. Crime novelist shirt sponsor, Val McDermid withdrew her support, and suggested that the women's and girls' team wanted to cut ties. The women's team captain resigned. Initially the club stood by its decision to sign Goodwillie, because he is a proven goalscorer. However, they have since made a u-turn, decided that they got things wrong and that Goodwillie will not be selected for matches.
This is not the glamorous and excessively paid end of British football. Average wages in the Scottish Championship are around £600 per week, slightly higher than the national average wage and comparable to, for example, the amounts paid to support gold medallist Team GB paralympians. It is not clear yet what will happen to Goodwillie's contract with Raith Rovers, but given that the civil case outcome was known to the club when they signed him, it may well prove to be an expensive mistake.
Goodwillie has already made more than 100 appearances for Clyde since the judgement in the civil court case.
This is their fulltime job, but they're unlikely to be rich in absolute terms. Vey different financial position to eg footballers in the English Premiership.
posted by plonkee at 6:43 AM on February 3, 2022
posted by plonkee at 6:43 AM on February 3, 2022
It was heartening to see the daily headlines about this, first Tyler Rattray, captain of their women's team resigned, the following day the women's team and their sponsor cut ties, and here we are today. People can still make a difference.
On the glamorous and excessively paid end of British football Mason Greenwood of Manchester United and Benjamin Mendy of Manchester City presently stand accused of rape. Their teams haven't terminated their contracts but neither player is training or playing with their teams. We'll see what happens once their cases are decided.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:47 AM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
On the glamorous and excessively paid end of British football Mason Greenwood of Manchester United and Benjamin Mendy of Manchester City presently stand accused of rape. Their teams haven't terminated their contracts but neither player is training or playing with their teams. We'll see what happens once their cases are decided.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:47 AM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is their fulltime job, but they're unlikely to be rich in absolute terms. Vey different financial position to eg footballers in the English Premiership.
They earn 600 quid a week which with UK buying power is something like 600 bucks a week US, ie $30k/yr (imagine that without health insurance). Basically close to $15/hr.
Compare to the premiership Mohammed Salah, for example, currently earns 1200 pounds in wages PER MINUTE every minute of the year, 24-7-365 (10.5 million quid a year). He is trying to get a 70% payrise on that.
So, yes ..... a little different.
posted by lalochezia at 7:01 AM on February 3, 2022
I ended up discussing this yesterday with someone a bit more familiar with Scottish football teams than I am, and one thing he made clear is that Raith Rovers claims to be a family club, which made the original decision more distressing. It basically made a joke of their Concordat.
posted by scorbet at 7:05 AM on February 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by scorbet at 7:05 AM on February 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
Not happy about the genesis of the issue, of course. But it is a great sign that an institution that has real community buy-in can be the space for very loud confirmation that this behavior has to end. It may be even better that the mistake was made and then hashed-out in public. I am happy to know that a woman had the relative wealth to be a sponsor and so was positioned to send her message, in a manner that could reach people in a way that letters to the editor could not. This episode must be able to reach some men who might not get such messages and confirmation, in a Meta-built world where it is so easy to construct and maintain blinders.
I am also happy to learn about a tier of sport where the women's teams can be heard and the impact is felt.
I won't reroute this into a US thing and name the obvious analogs here, but suffice it to say that we need more of this everywhere.
posted by drowsy at 7:16 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
I am also happy to learn about a tier of sport where the women's teams can be heard and the impact is felt.
I won't reroute this into a US thing and name the obvious analogs here, but suffice it to say that we need more of this everywhere.
posted by drowsy at 7:16 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
It may be even better that the mistake was made and then hashed-out in public.
Thing was though, it was already hashed out in public - according to this article there was already a discussion about a potential signing back in December, at the very least in local/club circles and people made their feelings known at the time. The board then decided to wait until the last minute (transfer deadline was Monday evening) to do it, probably hoping that they could weather the backlash as their hands were now tied.
Is it good that they finally admitted their mistake? Yes. But I’m still pretty frustrated that it took women resigning, shirt sponsors leaving them, and possibly even someone like Val McDermid having enough name recognition to turn this into an international story before they u-turned.
posted by scorbet at 7:53 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
Thing was though, it was already hashed out in public - according to this article there was already a discussion about a potential signing back in December, at the very least in local/club circles and people made their feelings known at the time. The board then decided to wait until the last minute (transfer deadline was Monday evening) to do it, probably hoping that they could weather the backlash as their hands were now tied.
Is it good that they finally admitted their mistake? Yes. But I’m still pretty frustrated that it took women resigning, shirt sponsors leaving them, and possibly even someone like Val McDermid having enough name recognition to turn this into an international story before they u-turned.
posted by scorbet at 7:53 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
Sigh. I am Scottish, my Dad is from Fife, and, indeed, Raith Rovers are known as a community-focused club with a strong women's team and youth teams.
Of course I am glad the board has backtracked, but, once again, it was women who had to take the initial stand. I would love to see this happen where men (and even fellow players!) make it clear it's not acceptable. I also suspect there would be much less press coverage if Val McDermid wasn't involved.
posted by sedimentary_deer at 8:16 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
Of course I am glad the board has backtracked, but, once again, it was women who had to take the initial stand. I would love to see this happen where men (and even fellow players!) make it clear it's not acceptable. I also suspect there would be much less press coverage if Val McDermid wasn't involved.
posted by sedimentary_deer at 8:16 AM on February 3, 2022 [4 favorites]
On the glamorous and excessively paid end of British football Mason Greenwood of Manchester United and Benjamin Mendy of Manchester City presently stand accused of rape. Their teams haven't terminated their contracts but neither player is training or playing with their teams. We'll see what happens once their cases are decided.
I am not a contract lawyer, but I imagine there is a good reason, probably financial, why the contracts haven't been terminated yet.
I can say with assurance that Mendy will never kick a ball for City again. The growing list of charges against Mendy is a nightmare for the owners. Man city's main function, currently, is to act as a sportswashing vehicle for Abu Dhabi. Their entire raison d'etre is to look good. They are dying to drop him like the hot turd he is.
posted by devious truculent and unreliable at 9:53 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I am not a contract lawyer, but I imagine there is a good reason, probably financial, why the contracts haven't been terminated yet.
I can say with assurance that Mendy will never kick a ball for City again. The growing list of charges against Mendy is a nightmare for the owners. Man city's main function, currently, is to act as a sportswashing vehicle for Abu Dhabi. Their entire raison d'etre is to look good. They are dying to drop him like the hot turd he is.
posted by devious truculent and unreliable at 9:53 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
They'll be dancing in the streets of Raith tonight!
posted by daveje at 10:47 AM on February 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by daveje at 10:47 AM on February 3, 2022 [3 favorites]
The growing list of charges against Mendy is a nightmare for the owners at least evidence that the police can do their job a little, given that nationally only 1.6% of rapes reported to police resulted in someone getting charged.
posted by ambrosen at 11:09 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ambrosen at 11:09 AM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I can say with assurance that Mendy will never kick a ball for City again.
It's hard to say. I remember Man Utd fans chanting about Robin van Persie being a rapist but all was forgotten once he left Arsenal for Man Utd.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:56 AM on February 3, 2022
It's hard to say. I remember Man Utd fans chanting about Robin van Persie being a rapist but all was forgotten once he left Arsenal for Man Utd.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:56 AM on February 3, 2022
Disappointingly, the CEO who presided over this decision was a woman, Karen Macartney. I know it shouldn’t make a difference and we should expect both men and women at board level to abhor rape, but it just adds a little more of a baffled head shake to the whole thing.
I’m a PR person working in a different sport in Scotland and I keep thinking about the PR people working at Raith, whoever they are. What do you do when the board are demanding you post the kind of abominable response that they put out yesterday, and you know it’s ethically abhorrent (and also a disastrous PR move) but you’re not a famous author who’ll draw big headlines, you’re an office worker with a mortgage to pay. Do you quit? Or do you just grit your teeth and do your job?
posted by penguin pie at 12:11 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I’m a PR person working in a different sport in Scotland and I keep thinking about the PR people working at Raith, whoever they are. What do you do when the board are demanding you post the kind of abominable response that they put out yesterday, and you know it’s ethically abhorrent (and also a disastrous PR move) but you’re not a famous author who’ll draw big headlines, you’re an office worker with a mortgage to pay. Do you quit? Or do you just grit your teeth and do your job?
posted by penguin pie at 12:11 PM on February 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I’m a PR person working in a different sport in Scotland and I keep thinking about the PR people working at Raith, whoever they are. What do you do when the board are demanding you post the kind of abominable response that they put out yesterday, and you know it’s ethically abhorrent (and also a disastrous PR move) but you’re not a famous author who’ll draw big headlines, you’re an office worker with a mortgage to pay. Do you quit? Or do you just grit your teeth and do your job?
I am also a PR person. I think you make your point that this is wrong, grit your teeth and do your job, and then look for a new employer. If you can afford to straight up resign it's different, but not many of us can. I don't think you would be tarnished by association. Just staying would I think be soul destroying, and my view is it's hard/impossible to do PR work for a brand you can't believe in.
posted by plonkee at 12:52 PM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
I am also a PR person. I think you make your point that this is wrong, grit your teeth and do your job, and then look for a new employer. If you can afford to straight up resign it's different, but not many of us can. I don't think you would be tarnished by association. Just staying would I think be soul destroying, and my view is it's hard/impossible to do PR work for a brand you can't believe in.
posted by plonkee at 12:52 PM on February 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Speaking of PR situations (and big league sports franchises), this came up in the r/videos feed during my lunch break. Astonishing, given the guy's history with the sexual assaults and the way he was likely instrumental in hushing it all up in the first place.
posted by elkevelvet at 1:33 PM on February 3, 2022
posted by elkevelvet at 1:33 PM on February 3, 2022
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But on the whole I'm glad to see the team facing opposition for this. I hope they have to eat the cost as a lesson to other teams as well.
posted by KirTakat at 6:28 AM on February 3, 2022