McDermid Ladies kick-off new chapter following Raith Rovers departure

McDermid ladies kicked-off a new chapter on Sunday with their first game since breaking ties with Raith Rovers.

Raith Rovers women’s team, backed by crime-write Val McDermid, decided to drop the association and start a new team following the controversial signing of David Goodwillie.

Goodwillie, signed from Clyde on the last day of the January transfer window, was judged to have raped a woman at a civil case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in 2017.

He and fellow accused David Robertson were ordered to pay the victim £100,000.

The Championship club have since back-tracked on their decision and are now saying that Goodwillie will not play for the club, but that gesture alone hasn’t been enough for its biggest critics who want to see a change at boardroom level.

The women’s team captain Tyler Rattray was the first player to quit the club over the signing and she wore the armband for McDermid Ladies against Livingston.

She said: “The game today is not about the unfortunate events of this week, today’s game is about turning a negative to a positive.

“As a team we just want to play football as it is a game that we love.”

McDermid, who was there to cheer on the new team, said: “I have said about Goodwillie this week that the first thing about rehabilitation is remorse and I think that applies equally to the board right now.

“I think it is depressing that a club that has built up so much strength in community projects over the years, not just within the club but outwith the club in the town itself with their involvement in foodbanks and lots of other things around the town and for that to be torn up and thrown away is immensely frustrating for everyone who has been involved in that.”