James McClean33-year-old soccer player Wigan Athletic e capped with the Republic of Ireland in 98 capshas revealed that have been diagnosed with autism.
The veteran full-back, who has played for Derry City, Sunderland, Wigan Athletic, West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City throughout his career, underwent medical tests after his daughter Willow-Ivy was diagnosed with it.
The ‘Daily Mail’ reports that James McClean was helping his daughter understand her disorder, and learning about autism from her before deciding to have an assessment himself.
“As everyone knows, my daughter Willow-Ivy is autistic. As my wife Erin and I learned more about autism, we began to recognize that I was very similar to Willow in more ways than we realized. I saw so many little traits of her in myself that I decided to go and get evaluated. Now that I have a diagnosis, I feel like it’s time to share it,” James McClean posted on Instagram.
The day James McClean rebelled against the England anthem
In 2015 James McClean, then a member of West Bromwich Albion, made headlines around the world for rebelling against the English anthem.
In a pre-season match against the Charleston Battery, a third division team in the US, the Northern Irish player did not turn in the direction of the England flag during the pre-match anthem.
In November 2012, in a match for Sunderland, James McClean refused to wear the remembrance poppy in commemoration of English soldiers killed in wars.
“To me, wearing the poppy is a sign of disrespect for the innocent people who lost their lives in The Troubles – Britain’s 30-year war – and on Bloody Sunday,” McClean said in 2012. “In life, if you are a man, you must fight for what you believe in”.
James McClean was born in an area of the Republic of Ireland with a strong republican character. Something that has served as an argument for some people to label him as related to the extinct IRA terrorist independence movement.
