Footballer fined after punching man in nightclub

A YOUNG footballer was fined yesterday for hitting another man in a nightclub.

David Goodwillie, the Dundee United striker and Scotland under-19 international, accepted a 250 fiscal's fine for assaulting the man by punching him in the early hours of 27 May in the Dusk nightspot in Stirling.

Under the diversion from prosecution scheme recently extended by the Scottish Government, first offenders on minor charges can be given a fine or a warning by the procurator-fiscal, instead of appearing in court.

Acceptance of a fiscal's fine does not count as a previous conviction. But the matter will show up on Disclosure Scotland checks if he ever applies for a job working with children or the vulnerable.

Goodwillie, 19, of Raploch, Stirling, was alleged to have delivered the punch in defence of a friend during a fracas in the club. He was charged following the incident that left the other clubber with concussion and needing stitches to a gash in his face.

Goodwillie was only 16 when he made his first appearance in a major competitive fixture for United, against Rangers in December 2005. He had been spotted in a Scottish Youth FA trial in Dundee and signed for the club at 14 from Carse Thistle.

He became a regular starter and goalscorer for the national under-17 team after making his international debut at the age of 15 for the Scotland under-16s in the Northern Ireland Tournament in 2004.