James McClean has hit out at Birmingham City fans after the Wrexham star had objects thrown at him in a brutal altercation .
In a match that was tagged as EFL’s Hollywood matchup as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham took on Tom Brady ’s Birmingham with David Beckham watching on in attendance, the game took on a direction more befitting of a Quentin Tarantino masterpiece.
Wrexham saw its unbeaten start to the League One campaign ended as the Blues rallied from a goal down to win 3-1 , surviving a late worry after Krystian Bielik was sent off late on for a challenge more befitting of Brady’s NFL days than a soccer match. Two of the Red Dragons' main stars, McClean and Paul Mullin also made unwanted impacts on the match.
McClean had earlier riled up the Blues supporters and players after appearing to strike Marc Leonard in the face before he was substituted after 83 minutes. The Irishman left the pitch on the opposite side of the ground to the dugout and walked back towards the bench in front of Birmingham fans.
Videos posted to social media showed McClean provoking Blues fans before lifting his shorts up to reveal a political tattoo about his hometown Londonderry in Northern Ireland. McClean was then targeted by objects thrown from the crowd, including a drinks cup which he caught and mockingly pretended to take a sip from.
McClean continued on his way to the dugout where he again engaged with opposition supporters, gesturing for them to continue their anger towards him. The abuse and reaction from McClean even ensued when he returned to the away dugout.
The former Premier League winger posted two pictures and messages reacting to his altercation with fans on Instagram. McClean first posted a picture of him holding the cup that was thrown at him, with the caption: “They have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of an Irishman who doesn’t want to be broken”. Also sarcastically adding: “P.s fair play to the one old steward that held them all back from getting over the 2ft advertising hoardings”.
McClean posted a second picture of him catching the cup with a Birmingham fan in the background who was hurling abuse towards him. “In fairness to this smelly fat gammon, he probs didn’t have the energy or mobility to step over the hoarding”, McClean wrote.
Meanwhile, Mullin escaped punishment and a lengthy ban after he appeared to think twice about biting Birmingham defender Alex Cochrane’s leg after the 24-year-old landed on him. Mullin was caught on TV cameras seemingly ready to bite Cochrane before pulling away, realizing the gravity of the punishment he would have received had he bit the Blues man.
The Wrexham star poked fun at the situation after the game on X as he sarcastically wrote about the incident: “I know what it looks like.. but it didn’t happen. Although you can tell his leg was thinking about attacking my mouth.”
Wrexham’s first opportunity to respond to their first league defeat of the season comes on Saturday when they host newly promoted Crawley Town. The Red Devils have so far outplayed their pre-season tag as relegation candidates after winning their opening two games and earning a point against unbeaten Stockport County last time out.
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