Why Wrexham captain James McClean has been allowed to skirt football’s rules on leaving a pitch
Wrexham captain James McClean has been allowed to leave the pitch via the shortest route to the tunnel in a bid to improve his safety following abuse from supporters.
The English Football League (EFL) has written to safety officials at all 72 clubs to inform them of McClean’s exemption, and the same process could be put in place for other players if they encounter similar cases of abuse.
Substituted players are required to leave the field of play via the nearest touchline or goal line following a change in the law introduced ahead of the 2019-2020 season in a bid to tackle time wasting.
The 35-year-old former Republic of Ireland international has regularly been the subject of abuse from opposition supporters while playing in England since refusing to wear a poppy on Remembrance Sunday in 2012.
Multiple teams have been charged with misconduct by the Football Association (FA) following behavior towards him, and he claims to have been the subject of “more abuse than any other player in England”.
The letter says it hopes the proposed replacement process “will help reduce these incidents and will also help manage Mr McClean’s departure from the field without incident”.
In September, McClean appeared to have objects thrown at him by supporters at home to St Andrew’s as he left the pitch after being substituted in the 83rd minute of Wrexham’s defeat to Birmingham City.
The letter sent by the EFL and first reported by the Daily mail reads: “You will be aware that James McClean often faces abuse from certain sections of the support. This has in the past resulted in FA sanctions against the club because the singing was racially or religiously motivated and therefore classified as a hate crime. Missiles have also been thrown.
“It has now been agreed that if Mr McClean has to leave the playing field for any reason in the future, he will take the shortest route to the tunnel.”
McClean was born and raised in the Northern Irish city of Derry, and does not wear a poppy on Remembrance Weekend as he feels it would be a sign of disrespect to his community due to the Troubles and, in particular, Bloody Sunday , when 14 men All Catholics were shot dead by British soldiers during a protest march in 1972.
In June 2023, Millwall was charged by the FA with three counts of misconduct over anti-Catholic chants directed at McClean and then Wigan Athletic by sections of the supporters during their Championship match.
Blackpool faced similar charges in the 2022-2023 season and were fined £35,000 by the FA after supporters behaved in a manner that was “inappropriate, offensive, insulting, indecent or insulting, with express or implied reference to religion. ”.
Barnsley were fined £20,000 and told to implement an action plan in 2020 after a section of their supporters directed anti-Catholic and anti-Irish chants at McClean during his time at Stoke City.
Kirk Broadfoot, then a Rotherham United defender, was banned for 10 matches after an FA committee found him guilty of using “offensive and/or insulting words” towards McClean in 2015.
McClean joined Wrexham from Wigan in 2023 after spells at Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland.
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James McClean, Wrexham’s new signing who is ‘abused more than anyone else in England’
(Ben Roberts photo/Getty Images)
