James McClean making no apologies for singing he 'hates the f***ing King at the top of his lungs' during Wrexham celebrations

James McClean has taken to Instagram to clarify his position after he appeared to join in with Wrexham fans who were chanting an anti-monarchy song.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s club secured back-to-back promotions after a 6-0 rout of Forest Green Rovers on Saturday with Derry man McClean playing a big role.

The former Republic of Ireland international was part of the joyous celebrations but some Wrexham supporters chose to sing a foul-mouthed song referencing the Royal Family and King Charles in particular.

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On a screenshot of an article about Wrexham fans singing ‘he hates the f****** King’ posted to his Instagram story, McClean wrote: “Is this correct? Absolutely and I also sang along at the top of my lungs.”

The veteran winger added: “Do I make any apologies for doing so? Absolutely not.”

The celebration comes at an intriguing time. Prince William, the Heir to the throne who is also the president of the Football Association, visited Wrexham only last month, where he was presented with a custom shirt by McElhenney.

He also met with players Ben Tozer and Luke Young, saying: “It's a great success story you're building here, everything you've started and achieved it's fantastic, so onwards and upwards - it's exciting. And anyone who's a true football fan wants to see you do well.”

McClean has endeared himself to supporters of the Welsh club during his short time at the club thanks to several impressive performances alongside his competitive mentality. However, he is not a popular figure with many opposing fans due to his decision to eschew the wearing of a poppy on his jersey.

McClean does not wear a remembrance poppy because he feels it would be a mark of disrespect to innocent people who lost their lives during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, particularly those from his hometown of Derry - the site of the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre. McClean has addressed his decision, which started in 2011 when he joined then-Premier League side Sunderland, plenty of times.

Back in 2014 when playing for Wigan Athletic, McClean published a letter to the club chairman Dave Whelan outlining his reasons for not wearing the poppy. He explained that if the symbol was exclusively for the victims of World War I and World War II, he would wear it. But because it stands for all British conflicts, he refuses to wear it.

After joining West Brom, he wrote in a pre-match programme: “People say I am being disrespectful [for not wearing the poppy] but don’t ask why I choose not to wear it. If the poppy was simply about World War One and Two victims alone, I’d wear it without a problem. I would wear it every day of the year if that was the thing but it doesn’t. It stands for all the conflicts that Britain has been involved in. Because of the history where I come from in Derry, I cannot wear something that represents that.”

McClean has received a torrent of abuse, leading to the Royal British Legion - which runs the Poppy Appeal - to defend his stance. In an interview with Sky Sports earlier this season, McClean spoke of how the threats often overstep to his wife Erin and their four children.

“I found out very, very quickly that you do this alone because there's not going to be a lot of help coming,” he said. “I’ve been quite vocal about that in the past. I've highlighted the lack of support and I stand by that.

“I have been quite critical to the FA for the lack of support over the years but twice in the past few months they have taken action against clubs (Blackpool and Millwall were both charged over abuse aimed at McClean from supporters). So as much as I've been critical, I'll also praise them when it's due.”

His experience has dissuaded other young Irish players to keep wearing the poppy even though they would rather not. He added: “I speak to a lot of people and I've had players say that they don't believe in wearing the poppy and they wouldn't wear it, but they just don't want the hassle.”

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