Raith Rovers are starting to find out the cost of signing David Goodwillie in the January transfer window, even though the striker will never play for them.
The Scottish Championship side decided to sign Goodwillie on deadline day on Monday, having previously been linked with him as early as December.
Even the rumours caused dissention from fans, due to him being named a rapist by a civil court case in 2017, and his signing led to anger from fans, with well known author Val McDermid cancelling her season ticket and sponsorship of the club.
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Despite the fact the women's team decided to remove the club crest and wanted to change their name, Rovers doubled down on their decision to sign the striker.
However on Thursday they eventually relented and said that the former Blackburn Rovers player wouldn't actually play for them, despite signing a two and a half year contract.
According to the Courier, that is going to set the club back £150,000, as they have to pay him his £1,150-a-week salary for the entirety of his deal.
The club originally defended their decision because of "football reasons" and describing the player as "a proven goalscorer," whilst also claiming he was 'part of' the club due to a previous loan spell before his civil court case.
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After the backlash though they finally put out a second statement admitting they'd 'got things wrong' and changing their mind having listened to the community.
"In reaching our original decision, we focused far too much on football matters and not enough on what this decision would mean for our club and the community as a whole.
"Over the past couple of days, we listened carefully to the fans who have got in touch and I’m very grateful for their honesty.
"As chairman, as a board and as a management team, we have all learned a hard but valuable lesson.
"This very unfortunate episode is something that we all bitterly regret and we are now wholly committed to making things right.
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"I can therefore confirm that, following a meeting of the Raith Rovers board, the player will not be selected by Raith Rovers and we will enter into discussions with the player regarding his contractual position."
Obviously those discussions aren't likely to end with the player agreeing to leave because he's unlikely to find a team willing to sign him after the recent backlash.
He was sat in the stands for the team's draw in midweek against Queen of the South, and the manager and team were booed as they emerged from the tunnel.
Perhaps someone should have thought about all this before signing Goodwillie.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Scottish Premiership, Scotland
