In defence of James McClean

Maybe I should stub my toe. Or lower my hand into a blender. Eat a light bulb? No, I’ve got it - I’ll write an opinion piece about James McClean on a Sunderland website.

Saturday saw us resume hostilities against the Derry-born former Sunderland winger, and with it came the routine reopening of old wounds.

As with every appearance at the Stadium of Light since he left 9 years ago, McClean was booed, abused and pillioried. And it’s not just us either. There are few players more consistently on the receiving end of opposition fans’ ire than James Joseph McClean.

It all started during his time with us, of course. On the 10th November 2012 Sunderland played Everton at Goodison, and McClean stood alone as the only player to take to the field in a poppy-less shirt. The reaction was swift and brutal. The player received a barrage of abuse on social media, an avalanche of hot-takes in the sports press, and even a death threat from an irate bouncer.

Our fans booed McClean during Sunderland's next game against Fulham, and this became the template for the next decade. McClean refuses the poppy every November and faces robust criticism each time, with many of the loudest voices coming from Wearside.

The case against McClean is easy to understand. The poppy is profoundly symbolic, having first come to prominence to commemorate the young men whose lives were cut tragically short during World War I. Its meaning has broadened over the years to become a symbol of remembrance for all of the UK and Commonwealth's war dead - including an estimated 50,000 of McClean’s countrymen who died fighting for Britain in the Great War.

Every November, the British Legion rely on the poppy to raise over £50m each year, providing vital help for veterans and their families in doing so. And for many of us, that's what makes the poppy personal. Because soldiers in this context aren’t a concept or historical artefact, they’re our family, our friends and our neighbours.

So what, exactly, is James McClean’s problem?

As the symbolism of the poppy broadened, it became associated with a more complex array of factors. For some, the poppy is as much a symbol of support as it is a symbol of mourning. At the time of McClean’s initial refusal to wear the poppy, there were approximately 10,000 UK soldiers on active duty in Afghanistan. During this period, the poppy naturally became associated with these operations, and therefore a refusal to wear one was seen as a snub to the young men and women risking their lives 4,000 miles away.

McClean attempted to clarify his position in an open letter to then-Wigan Chairman, Dave Whelan.

“I have complete respect for those who fought and died in both World Wars. I mourn their deaths like every other decent person and if the Poppy was a symbol only for the lost souls of World War I and II I would wear one.”

As the poppy’s meaning broadened, so too did McClean’s discomfort.

“But the Poppy is used to remember victims of other conflicts since 1945 and this is where the problem starts for me.”

Having being raised in a part of the world patrolled by British solders, and in a community where some of those soldiers were responsible for civilian deaths, it becomes easier to understand why McClean wouldn’t wear something that had become symbolic of support for the modern-day British Army.

“… for me to wear a poppy would be as much a gesture of disrespect for the innocent people who lost their lives in the Troubles – and Bloody Sunday especially - as I have in the past been accused of disrespecting the victims of WWI and WWII. It would be seen as an act of disrespect to those people; to my people.”

McClean's defence has fell largely on deaf ears. And some those who heard it responded with another insult - that James McClean is a hypocrite. After all, how come he’s happy to forge a lucrative career in England if he’s so disturbed by our shared history?

McClean himself has strongly denied being anti-British, and I believe him. Look at it this way. If you’re reading this, I assume you hate Newcastle United Football Club. You think Alan Shearer wears a wankers hat, used to carve FTM into your school desk and your phone wallpaper used to be Lee Cattermole standing over Jack Colback’s broken body.

And I also assume you’ve been known to drink in Newcastle. You probably like the city. You may even work there, shop there, count people from Newcastle among your friends and family. It’s not hypocritical to hate the mags without hating everything and everyone from the place the football club calls home.

I’ve lived in Dublin for the last 15 years or so. People here hate a lot of things Britain has done. Ireland was, after all, under British rule for some 800 years. That's a lot of time for hateful things to happen. But they don’t hate people just because they’re British. There's a distinction drawn between humans and history, between people and the policies of institutions. 

There has been a strange controversy here in recent weeks. The Irish women’s football team qualified for the World Cup in the first time in history, prompting joyous celebrations that reminded me of the Lionesses' exploits this summer. Then, during the post-game celebrations, a few players were caught on camera singing a song called ‘Celtic Symphony’ by the Wolfe Tones which includes a pro-IRA chant of “ooh ah up the ‘ra”.

Apologies were swiftly made, but it was mainly a media-invented controversy. Everyone knew it was a little more than some excited young women singing a daft rebel song. No one took it as a serious show of support for terrorism, or a malicious dig at the British. Irish people inevitably have a different perspective on the history we share, but thankfully there’s far more that unites Irish and British people today than divides us. Most of us hate the tories, for instance. And Bono.

You’re entitled to disagree with the James McClean stance on the poppy. You're entitled to strongly dispute his argument, and you are of course entitled to your own, deeply-held stance on what the poppy means to you. My point is that McClean is entitled to his stance. It doesn't make him anti-British, disrespectful to those we lost to war or even an opponent to the servicemen and servicewomen that you know personally. It’s simply a man putting his people first, even when it'd be easier put positive PR first.

McClean hasn't done himself favours at times over the years - balaclavas on Instagram is never a good look - but the poppy issue is a case of a man sticking to his principles, and thoughtfully explaining what those principles are to anyone who will listen. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t see a great deal wrong with that.