Wrexham midfielder James McClean stood away from his teammates during a minute’s silence ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
The 35-year-old, who was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, has refused to take part in Remembrance commemorations since moving to England in 2011.
Across all professional football matches in the UK this weekend, players observe a moment of silence and wear shirts which are emblazoned with Remembrance poppies.
McClean, however, does not support the tradition and stood apart from his teammates, who were all linked by their arms, during the silence at the Racecourse Ground ahead of Wrexham’s League One game against Mansfield Town.
After the moment of silence had ended, some Wrexham supporters in the stands began to sing McClean, ‘hates the King’.
In April, McClean encouraged Wrexham fans to sing the anti-monarchy song as the club celebrated promotion from League Two.
McClean shared a screenshot of the story on social media and wrote: ‘Is this correct? Absolutely and I also sang at the top of my lungs.
‘Do I make any apologies for doing so? Absolutely not.’
McClean, who has previously played for Sunderland, Wigan Athletic, West Brom and Stoke City, has faced criticism from some fans throughout his career for his refusal to wear a Remembrance poppy on his shirt.
McClean has previously said that he refuses to observe Remembrance traditions due to the British Army’s role in The Troubles.
McClean grew up on the Creggan estate in Derry, where six of the people killed on Bloody Sunday were from.
Bloody Sunday was one of the most significant events of The Troubles conflict when British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest march in January 1972.
‘People say I am being disrespectful but don’t ask why I choose not to wear it,’ McClean wrote in West Brom’s matchday programme in 2015.
‘If the poppy was simply about World War One and Two victims alone, I’d wear it without a problem.
‘I would wear it every day of the year if that was the thing but it doesn’t. It stands for all the conflicts that Britain has been involved in. Because of the history where I come from in Derry, I cannot wear something that represents that.’
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