‘People were saying I should be shot’
James McClean has opened up on the death threats he received for not wearing a remembrance poppy, and puts some of the blame for the reaction on his former club.
While playing for Sunderland in 2012, McClean decided not to wear a poppy, and has since never worn one on his shirt for Remembrance Sunday.
The poppy is worn in the UK to commemorate those who died in World War 1, World War 2 and other conflicts, including conflicts in Ireland.
In a revealing interview with Lucy Kennedy in the upcoming episode of Living with Lucy, the Derryman, 36, explained how Sunderland’s statement ‘killed him’ at the time.
“What killed me was Sunderland put out a statement before the game, basically saying this is James’ choice. If they didn’t highlight it, it wouldn’t have been as big a deal. Putting that statement out caused havoc.
“At that age, I was 23, so I thought ‘the club is looking after me’. You just assume the club is looking after one of their players. They’re telling me not to say nothing, like it will blow over. I’m thinking ‘I believe you, it will’.
“It didn’t. It went insane. I was getting death threats, people were saying I should be shot. I was getting bullets in the post, bullets sent to the club.
“That night I met up with Ireland, the club had received threats that basically I was going to be shot. The game was on TV, I was going to be shot, this and that.
“She’s (Erin, wife) back up in Newcastle, she’s panicking, she’s s***ing herself. They had to put security outside my hotel room door the whole night.
“Then obviously we’re playing the game, Erin’s watching the game, she’s panicking, she’s thinking ‘he’s going to be shot on TV’. Thankfully nothing happened or nothing ever has happened.”
The episode of Living with Lucy featuring James McClean airs on Virgin Media 1 on Sunday at 9pm.
