James Joseph McClean (/məˈkleɪn/ mə-KLAYN; born 22 April 1989) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL League One club Wrexham.

He spent two seasons at Wigan, claiming their player of the year award in the latter, and then returned to the Premier League by joining West Bromwich Albion in June 2015.

[7] McClean began his career at Institute, making one first team appearance as a substitute against Glentoran in the 2007–08 Irish Premier League season.

[8] McClean made his Derry City first team debut on 1 July 2008 in a League Cup tie at home to Bohemians, opening the scoring in a 4–1 win.

[11][12] Derry finished the season in 4th place but were expelled by the FAI due to breaking regulations by holding secondary, unofficial contracts with players.

[22] His form in the development squad was capped by a reserve-debut goal in a 4–3 win over Tyne–Wear derby rivals Newcastle United, earning him a place on the Sunderland bench.

[23] Despite never making an appearance under Bruce, he made his debut for the first team in Martin O'Neill's first game in charge on 11 December, a 2–1 win over Blackburn Rovers and was credited for the comeback which saw his side overturn a 1–0 deficit, after coming on as a substitute for Jack Colback in the second half.

He scored his first Premier League goal of the season in a 3–0 home defeat of Reading on 11 December, exactly twelve months to the day that he made his Sunderland debut.

[32] McClean fell out of favour with the Sunderland supporters after he refused to wear a poppy in the run-up to Remembrance Day, which led to his departure in August 2013.

[38] McClean played in 49 matches in 2013–14, scoring four goals as Wigan reached the Championship play-offs where they lost 2–1 to Queens Park Rangers.

[40] Turning down a move to New York Red Bulls,[41] on 22 June 2015 McClean signed for West Bromwich Albion on a three-year deal for a fee believed to be around £1.5 million.

[42] In July, on the team's tour of the United States, he turned his back on the Flag of England while the British national anthem "God Save the Queen" was played before a match against the Charleston Battery, which resulted in a verbal warning from manager Tony Pulis.

[45] On 17 October, after a 1–0 home win over his former team Sunderland, he taunted the visiting fans, leading to confrontations between both sets of players; he was given a warning by the FA over his conduct.

[47] Two weeks later, he was sent off in the first half of a 2–1 home loss to Bournemouth for a challenge on Adam Smith; teammate Salomón Rondón was also dismissed in added time.

[54] The 2017–18 season was an unsettled one for West Brom as they went through four managers Tony Pulis, Gary Megson, Alan Pardew and Darren Moore.

[61] McClean began the 2019–20 season playing as a makeshift left-back as Nathan Jones attempted to implement his preferred diamond formation.

[62] It did not work as Stoke had a poor start to the season, failing to win any of their first ten matches and Jones was replaced by Michael O'Neill in November who played McClean in his natural left-wing position.

[66] In March 2020, McClean uploaded an Instagram post in which he said he was giving his children a history lesson, while wearing a balaclava, which some viewers believed to be in reference to the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

[83] On 16 January 2025, in a 2–1 loss away to local rivals Shrewsbury Town, stewards made a human wall between home fans and McClean when he went to take a throw-in, and objects were launched in his direction.

[84] The English Football League began an investigation into the incidents, and several Shrewsbury fans were banned from the club and charged with criminal offences.

[97][98] McClean made his international debut on 29 February 2012, coming on in the 78th minute for Aiden McGeady in a friendly against the Czech Republic at the Aviva Stadium.

"[102] On 26 May 2012, McClean made his first senior international start against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final home friendly ahead of UEFA Euro 2012, playing on the left flank.

After much public urging for him to make use of McClean's talents to recover the Republic's progress in the European Championship, Trapattoni claimed that "His time would come in the future".

[105] After being left on the bench during the Republic of Ireland's 2–1 victory over Kazakhstan in a World Cup 2014 qualifier on 7 September 2012, McClean used Twitter to criticise Trapattoni.

[110] On 9 October 2017, he scored the only goal of a win away to Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, putting the Irish into the playoffs.

[111] On 16 November 2020, the Football Association of Ireland announced that McClean had tested positive for COVID-19 after playing a full game against Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium.

[113] On 14 June 2022, on his 94th cap for the Republic of Ireland, he captained his country for the first time, in a 1–1 draw with Ukraine in a UEFA Nations League game at the LKS Stadium in Poland.

[114] On 19 June 2023, McClean became the 7th player to make 100 international appearances for the Republic of Ireland in a 3–0 home win against Gibraltar in the Euro 2024 qualification.

[120] In 2013, McClean, then of Sunderland, attracted criticism when he wrote a tweet naming "The Broad Black Brimmer" as his favourite song by the Irish rebel band the Wolfe Tones.

[133][134][135][136] Various players, such as David Meyler and Jamie Devitt (both Irish citizens)[137] and managers (including Trapattoni), have voiced support for his decision as a personal issue of conscience.