James Joseph McClean (born 22 April 1989) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a winger for League of Ireland Premier Division club Derry City.
McClean began his career with Trojans, Institute, and Derry City of his hometown. He signed for Sunderland in England's Premier League in 2011 and moved to Wigan Athletic in August 2013. 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. McClean spent three season with the Baggies before joining Stoke City in July 2018. McClean re-signed for Wigan Athletic in August 2021 and joined Wrexham two years later.
McClean was born and brought up in Derry and played for the Northern Ireland national under-21 football team, but declined a call-up to the senior squad because he wanted to play for the Republic of Ireland. In February 2012, McClean received international clearance from FIFA which made him eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland, making his debut against the Czech Republic in the same month. He made 103 appearances for the nation over the next 11 years, and represented them at the UEFA European Championship in 2012 and 2016.
Early life McClean grew up in the Creggan area of Derry and attended Holy Family Primary School and St. Peter's High School. He played Gaelic football with Seán Dolans GAC before concentrating on association football.
Club career Institute McClean began his career at Institute, making one first team appearance as a substitute against Glentoran in the 2007–08 Irish Premier League season. Institute decided not to renew his contract in the summer of 2008.
Derry City 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. He made his League of Ireland debut for Derry City as a substitute for Kevin McHugh playing against Cork City at Turner's Cross on 8 September 2008. In his first full season with Derry in the 2009 season the club suffered serious financial problems and the players went weeks without payment. During this period in November 2009 McClean held talks with English League Two side Lincoln City, but this did not result in a contract, after McClean felt homesick. Derry finished the season in 4th place but were expelled by the FAI due to breaking regulations by holding secondary, unofficial contracts with players. They were invited to join the League of Ireland First Division.
In December 2009 McClean was one of the first four players to sign for the new Derry City, along with David McDaid, and the McEleney brothers — Shane and Patrick. McClean scored eight goals in 33 appearances in the 2010 season helping Derry return to the top-flight. McClean began to attract more interest from English clubs in the 2011 season with Peterborough United making some unsuccessful bids. He also attracted interest from both Everton and Celtic. In August 2011 Derry accepted an offer from Sunderland for McClean.
Sunderland
McClean joined Sunderland on 9 August 2011 for a fee of £350,000, signing a three-year contract. Upon signing McClean, manager Steve Bruce indicated that he was "one for the future", and also hinted that he would be in the reserve team until Christmas. 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. 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.
McClean made his first start for Sunderland in their 1–0 victory over Manchester City on 1 January 2012, and scored his first senior goal for the Black Cats in a 4–1 win against Wigan Athletic two days later; on 8 January, he scored and assisted Sebastian Larsson in a 2–0 win at Peterborough United in the third round of the FA Cup. McClean provided the assist for Stéphane Sessègnon's opening goal in Sunderland's 2–0 victory over Swansea City on 21 January, and got another assist in the equalising goal for Fraizer Campbell in the next round of the cup against Middlesbrough on 29 January. Ahead of the replay for that fixture, Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray used McClean as an example for young players to follow. McClean turned provider again in Sunderland's 3–0 victory over Norwich City, assisting Sessègnon's goal, then scored the only goal in a win over Stoke City on 4 February in snowy conditions at the Britannia Stadium. A week later, he opened the scoring in Sunderland's 2–1 home loss to Arsenal after Per Mertesacker injured himself. On 23 March, Sunderland announced that McClean had signed a new contract intended to force him to stay at the club until the summer of 2015. A day later, he helped them to a 3–1 victory over relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers by assisting the opening goal for Nicklas Bendtner and later scoring by himself. McClean won Sunderland's Young Player of the Year Award, at the end of the 2011–12 season.
In August 2012, McClean scored his first two goals of the 2012–13 in the second round of the League Cup against Morecambe. He also scored in the third round as well, scoring in the 82nd minute away at Milton Keynes Dons. 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. 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. Speaking in 2015 McClean says he was 'hung out to dry' by Sunderland.
Wigan Athletic McClean signed for Championship club Wigan Athletic on a three-year contract on 8 August 2013. Three days later he made his debut in the 2013 FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium, starting in a 2–0 loss to Manchester United.
He scored his first goal for Wigan on 26 January 2014 in the FA Cup fourth round, a winner in a 2–1 victory against Crystal Palace. He had scored on 18 December against Sheffield Wednesday, but that match was abandoned in heavy rain and his goal was struck from the records; it was the only goal of the game by the 59th minute in which it was called off. 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. In 2014–15, Wigan finished in 23rd place and were relegated to League One.
West Bromwich Albion
Turning down a move to New York Red Bulls, 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. 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.
He made his competitive debut on 10 August as West Brom began the season against Manchester City at The Hawthorns. Booed by his team's own fans whenever he touched the ball, he was replaced by Claudio Yacob at half-time, as his team lost 3–0. 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. He scored his first goal for the Baggies on 5 December, a 39th-minute headed equaliser in a 1–1 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur. 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. He played in 42 matches in 2015–16 as West Brom finished in 14th position.
He scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season in the EFL Cup against Northampton Town. His first league goal of the season came in a 4–2 win over West Ham United on 17 September 2016. He was given an improved contract extension until 2019, with the option of a further year. Tony Pulis said: "James thoroughly deserves this and has worked hard to achieve it." He angered Watford captain Troy Deeney with his tackling in a 3–1 win on 3 December 2016. He played 42 times as the Baggies finished in 10th. 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. Albion were rock bottom of the Premier League nearly all season and despite a late resurgence they were relegated to the Championship.
Stoke City McClean joined Stoke City in July 2018 on a four-year contract for a fee of £5 million. McClean made his Stoke debut on 5 August 2018 against Leeds United. He scored his first goal for Stoke on 25 August 2018 in a 2–0 win against Hull City. In September 2018 McClean suffered a broken arm whilst on international duty with Ireland. McClean played 45 times in 2018–19, scoring three goals as Stoke finished in 16th place. McClean began the 2019–20 season playing as a makeshift left-back as Nathan Jones attempted to implement his preferred diamond formation. 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. McClean became a key player under O'Neill and his form helped the team pick up results to move out of the relegation zone. He ended the campaign with seven goals from 37 appearances as Stoke avoided relegation and finished in 15th position. Following the end of the season he was voted Player of the Year by supporters.
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). McClean was fined two weeks' wages by Stoke, apologised, and agreed to delete his account. McClean said in 2023 that he regretted the upload.
In the 2020–21 season, McClean made 29 appearances, scoring two goals as Stoke finished in 14th position. During the season McClean had disciplinary problems as he breached COVID-19 protocols by going to a gym during lockdown. He also angered O'Neill in March 2021 after he played for Ireland despite recovering from a foot injury.
Return to Wigan Athletic On 17 August 2021 McClean re-joined Wigan Athletic on a one-year contract. McClean claimed he turned down Bolton Wanderers in order to sign for Wigan. However, Bolton Manager Ian Evatt stated this was false; Bolton had no interest in signing McClean, and McClean's agent had rung daily for three weeks begging Bolton to give him a contract. On 16 October he scored twice in a 4–0 win against Bolton with the match nearly being abandoned after he scored when Bolton fans threw bottles and other objects at him, followed by Wigan fans ripping down advertising boards, the match stopping for more than 10 minutes as police dealt with the situation. Having been promoted as Champions, McClean signed a new one-year contract extension at the end of the 2021–22 season. His first goal of the new season came on 6 August 2022, in a 1–1 draw away to Norwich City at Carrow Road.
Wrexham On 4 August 2023, it was announced that McClean had signed for EFL League Two side Wrexham for an undisclosed fee. McClean's first season with the club saw him make 44 appearances in all competitions, scoring 3 goals as his side were promoted to EFL League One following their second placed season. He signed a new contract with Wrexham to the end of the 2025–26 season. In the 2024–25 League One season, McClean made 42 appearances, scored 4 goals, played approximately 3,407 minutes, and received 11 yellow cards.