Cowdenbeath player David Robertson has announced his retirement from football, less than a week after being called a rapist by a judge.
Robertson and his former Dundee United colleague David Goodwillie were ordered to pay Denise Clair £100,000 in damages after a judge ruled they had raped her at a flat in Armadale, West Lothian, following a night out in January 2011.
Ms Clair revealed at the weekend she had refused an offer of £115,000 from the footballers’ lawyers to drop her civil case against them.
She sued Robertson and Goodwillie after The Crown decided not to prosecute them.
Both men claimed sex had been consensual.
Goodwillie now plays for Plymouth Argyle while Robertson was on the books of Cowdenbeath until this week.
But the Fife side confirmed he has now decided to retire from football for good.
Robertson, 30, said: “I am stopping playing but that is as much as I want to say,.
“I’m not interested in playing any more but don’t want to say any more than that.”
Chairman Donald Findlay said: “I wish to thank David for all his hard work during his stay at Central Park.”
We can confirm David Robertson has retired from professional football. Donald Findlay said, ‘I wish to thank David for all his hard work".
— Cowdenbeath FC (@CowdenbeathFC) January 22, 2017
Robertson joined United as a youth player and won the Scottish Cup with the side in 2010, where he appeared as substitute in the win over Ross County.
After rejected a new contract the folloowing year, he signed for St Johnstone and went on to play for Morton, Livingston and Ayr United before signing for Cowdenbeath.
Goodwillie has said he was “devastated” by last week’s verdict and is considering appealing against last week’s verdict.
Although he admitted behaving in an inconsiderate manner as a 21-year-old, he denies raping Ms Clair.
But there have also been calls for an inquiry into the Crown Office’s decision not to prosecute Goodwillie and Robertson.
The Scottish Labour Party and Thomas Ross, president of the Scottish Criminal Bar Association, have both questioned the decision not to pursue the case through the criminal courts.
A Crown Office spokesman said civil cases require less proof than criminal trials, where guilt must be proved “beyond reasonable doubt.”
Goodwillie was not in the Plymouth Argyle squad for their match against Cheltenham on Sunday.
The club has said it will not comment on the case until it read’s Lord Armstrong’s full verdict on the case and will not select Goodwillie until it is published.
