David Goodwillie axed after one game as club admit 'misstep'
The striker has been released after scoring a hat-trick on his debut for Radcliffe FC
Former Scotland striker David Goodwillie has been released by his new club after just one appearance - with their board admitting signing him was a 'misstep'.
The 33-year old made his debut for seventh tier English side Radcliffe FC on Tuesday night and scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Belper Town.
Goodwillie's arrival had not been announced by the Manchester-based club on social media.
The club faced backlash when his name appeared in their starting line-up for Tuesday's match as he was found to have raped a woman by a civil court in 2011.
A similar incident happened last year when Raith Rovers signed the striker from Clyde.
Many supporters and sponsors, such as author Val McDermid, spoke of their outrage at the signing, with McDermid pulling her financial support from the team.
Radcliffe have released a statement on Wednesday morning announcing Goodwillie had left the club.
They also apologised to supporters and admitting the move was was "a bridge too far".
It read: "We can confirm that David Goodwillie has left the Club.
"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 were 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 6 years both on and off the field and we sincerely apologize to everyone connected with the club and the community - this is a mistake that will never happen again."