Wrexham and Republic of Ireland winger James McClean: I cant change peoples perception of me. The people that judge me dont know me, never spent time with me. You have two sides; you have someone with one set of values and someone with other values. Im just asking for respect.
Wrexham and Republic of Ireland winger James McClean:"I can't change people's perception of me. The people that judge me don't know me, never spent time with me. You have two sides; you have someone with one set of values and someone with other values. I'm just asking for respect."Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
He was 23 when his world effectively changed, ultimately because he chose to remain true to himself, where he is from, and what he believes in. McClean hails from Creggan, a housing estate in Derry, Northern Ireland that hugs the border to County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Many of the soldiers involved"knowingly put forward false accounts in order to seek to justify their firing."
The abuse rolled on, almost every matchday. Two years later while at Wigan, McClean articulated himself in an open letter to the chairman, Dave Whelan.I wanted to write to you before talking about this face to face and explain my reasons for not wearing a poppy on my shirt for the game at Bolton. Please understand, Mr Whelan, that when you come from Creggan like myself or the Bogside, Brandywell or the majority of places in Derry, every person still lives in the shadow of one of the darkest days in Ireland's history - even if like me you were born nearly 20 years after the event. It is just a part of who we are, ingrained into us from birth.
A line that has coloured the 34-year-old's career is"he brings it on himself." There are former team-mates and high-profile pundits who have suggested McClean should have taken the route of no resistance: wear the poppy, stay silent, get on with the job. You say you have to be resilient and in this game you have to have thick skin. But you shouldn't have to shoulder all this hate and abuse.
When we're talking about abuse, we're not just referencing the sectarian chanting, which is bad enough in itself. But there's been death threats and a lot of horrible things towards your family. That's an interesting point you make, because whenever you have stood up for yourself, when you've been abused, you've had this massive push back and pile-on and this description of you as the most hated and abused footballer in Britain. And that's because you have stood up for yourself, because for the vast majority of your career, no-one else has done that.
I think that I am standing up for myself. I don't go out and, you know, ignite these little fires and wars and whatever. It's like there's a perception that I'm a troublemaker and 'we don't want him near our club because he just brings trouble'. But I don't. I've only ever had one bad relationship with one manager and that was at Stoke before I left.
I made the stupid call to put it on social media and it annoys me because people actually believe out there that I sat and spoke to my children about the history. Come on. It was just a picture. I grew up straight after the conflict. So it was ingrained in me, I'd seen it first hand. They don't know why they hate on me. They hate me because the person beside them hates me and they just think they well, that's the way it goes. On a Saturday when I go to away ground or when away fans come and I'm getting abuse, I've used it for fuel, for motivation. It's kept me going. If you're abusing me, I'll use it as motivation. And that's just because there's nothing else I can do.
You know what, after all the abuse you've endured over 11 years, you are probably going to change things because we have now seen The FA taking action and it shouldn't have had to take this long…
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