Sky Sports issue awkward apology after error in David Goodwillie report

Very awkward

Sky Sports were forced to issue an apology to Clyde striker David Goodwillie after they mistakenly called the 32-year-old a ‘racist’, instead of a rapist.

During the live broadcast on Wednesday evening, the presenters apologised to Goodwillie after they had made the error when discussing his return to Clyde on loan from Raith Rovers.

The club can confirm that David Goodwillie has rejoined the club on loan from Raith Rovers until the end of the seasonhttps://t.co/DRvCszGpBI

— Clyde FC (@ClydeFC) March 1, 2022

Raith were heavily criticised for signing the former Dundee United and Blackburn Rovers man after Goodwillie was ruled to have raped a woman in a 2017 civil case.

Both Goodwillie and his former teammate David Robertson were deemed by a judge to have raped Denise Clair – who waived her right to anonymity – after a night out in West Lothian.

After making the on-screen error, the presenter was forced to clarify that they had made a mistake and subsequently issued an apology.

. @Oldfirmfacts1 Sky Sports with quite the apology about Goodwillie just there pic.twitter.com/xZOSLKeFIN

— Steve Hunter (@mumbosteve) March 2, 2022

The presenter said: “We would like to issue an apology to Mr Goodwillie.

“A little earlier this evening, in error, we reported that he had been ruled to be a racist in a civil case in 2017.

“The ruling in question was actually that Goodwillie was ruled to be a rapist in that case.

“We apologise for the error in reporting.”

Goodwillie’s recent return to Clyde has also been met with huge backlash by North Lanarkshire Council, who also own their stadium, and have admitted they are reviewing their current partnership with the club.

In light of Clyde FC’s announcement confirming the return of David Goodwillie, we are reviewing all our commercial partnership arrangements with the club.https://t.co/El9andHVdE

— NorthLanCouncil (@nlcpeople) March 1, 2022

A statement read: “In light of Clyde Football Club’s announcement confirming the return of David Goodwillie, we are reviewing all our commercial partnership arrangements with the club. We will announce the outcome as soon as all information has been considered and communicated directly with the club.

“The stadium had previously been under the management of North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd, a separate entity to the council, but is now directly under council control.

“The council utterly condemns all and any violence towards, or abuse of, women. We offer a range of services to support women who experience abuse through Rape Crisis Lanarkshire and Aura and we would urge anyone in this position to make contact.”