A controversial footballer has "left" Radcliffe FC a day after scoring a hat-trick on his debut following a public backlash. 

David Goodwille was ruled by a judge in a civil case in 2017 in Scotland to have raped a woman.

Last night, Tuesday, the 33-year-old netted three times in a 4-2 home win over Belper Town FC.

He is a former Premier League striker with Blackburn Rovers, and has three Scotland caps.

Sky Sports News said it had been told he was given a short-term contract by Radcliffe, who play in the seventh tier of English football, the Northern Premier League.

His signing was not announced by Radcliffe with his introduction into the side confirmed once the teamsheet was released ahead of kick-off.

Some social media users made their disgust clear with Radcliffe after spotting his name in the line-up.

This morning, Wednesday, Radcliffe said he is no longer on the club's books and that it made a "significant misstep" in signing him. 

It has "sincerely apologised" and said it is a "mistake that will never happen again".

READ NEXT > Another popular fashion brand set to open in Bury town centre

In a statement, a club spokesperson said: "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 six years both on and off the field and we sincerely apologise to everyone connected with the club and the community - this is a mistake that will never happen again."

READ NEXT > Thousands of fly-tipping incidents in Bury recorded in space of a year

In January last year, Scottish side Raith Rovers came under fire for signing Goodwillie from Clyde.

Several prominent supporters, directors and sponsors, including high-profile author Val McDermid, withdrew their backing of the club as a result.

Days after the signing Raith said it had made a mistake and apologised.

He was loaned back to Clyde in March.

But soon after he was banned from the club's Broadwood Stadium by North Lanarkshire Council, which rented the site to Clyde up until last year.

He was released by Raith in September.