James McClean hints potential career change after his recent game-time struggles at Wrexham and now the punch incident.
The 36 year old has signalled a potential shift from football to boxing while talking with Westlife’s Nicky Byrne on his podcast.
He played a big part in Wrexham’s back-to-back promotions from League Two and League One since joining in 2023, but has grown frustrated with limited playing time in the Championship this season, diminishing his enjoyment of the game.
McClean now says he prefers boxing, channels frustration into punch-bag sessions, and has held preliminary talks with Misfits Boxing.
He described walking out with Michael Conlan at Dublin’s 3Arena in September as “unbelievable” and a bucket-list experience he wants to pursue himself post-contract.
He said: “I’ll be honest, I’ve really enjoyed it [at Wrexham] up until the last two or three months.
“It’s not been ideal, I’ve not been playing as much as I’d like, which is never a good thing. You want to be playing and you want to be in the mix. I’ve never dealt really well with not playing.
“I wouldn’t really say it’s bad times, but it’s been not as enjoyable personally for myself. When you’re younger, you do daft stuff and you don’t really handle situations maybe as maturely as you do as you get older.
“Nowadays, I just channel that frustration and annoyance and do my training. Before, I’d throw my toys out of the pram. Now, I just channel that frustration into the punch bag and it seems to blow off a bit of steam. You kind of feel better for it afterwards.”
He continued: “I do want to box. Misfits (boxing company) is opening up opportunities for a lot of people who aren’t professional boxers to give them the opportunity to step in and experience what it’s like to be a boxer.
“Absolutely, it’s something I want to do and there has been background chats about it, but I’m contracted at the moment. It’s definitely something I want to do in the near future.
“A lot of my training now is boxing training. I have a bigger passion now for boxing than I do for football. I would rather watch boxing than watch football. It’s something I want to do and it’s something I want to experience to tick off my bucket list.
“I’ve done the ring walk for Mike Conlan in Dublin. Being on the stage that night and doing the ring walk was unbelievable. I was thinking, imagine doing that, where this is for you and you’re going into the ring for a tear up. I get goosebumps.”
As can be heard above (just click play!), McClean had a number of other topics, channelling his anger into gym/punchbag session, growing up in Derry, supporting Celtic and idolising Roy Keane.
He also says he start out as goalkeeper, but switched to midfield/forward by the age of 12, before breaking into Derry City; nearly signed for Lincoln at 19 but felt homesick, he joined Sunderland at 22, had quick rise under Martin O’Neill and recalls his standout moment being Ireland’s Euro 2016 win over Italy, with Brady’s goal sparking “pandemonium”, leading to singing Westlife on the bus home.
His toughest opponent is Seamus Coleman of whom he has a friendly rivalry with.
Then came talk of the Poppy controversy, saying he stands firm on not wearing poppy due to Derry/Bloody Sunday ties, but has grown tired of the annual backlash he gets every year it comes around. When he does receive it, he uses it as motivation, with his fellow teammates increasingly aware but understandable about it; with most of the abuse he gets from the public online, saying they’re only “big & brave behind screens”.
Regarding his personal life, he opened up being on being diagnosed as autistic (prompted by wife and daughter Willow’s diagnosis).
He found testing “embarrassing” but helpful for self/daughter understanding.
Wrexham’s James McClean reveals why he punched Cardiff fan in pre-match car park row
MCCLEAN’S CAREER:
Youth career
Trojans
Institute
Senior career
2007–2008 – Institute – 1 game (0 goals)
2008–2011 – Derry City – 79 games (16 goals)
2011–2013 – Sunderland – 59 games (7 goals)
2013–2015 – Wigan Athletic – 73 games (9 goals)
2015–2018 – West Bromwich Albion – 99 games (4 goals)
2018–2021 – Stoke City – 102 games (12 goals)
2021–2023 – Wigan Athletic – 79 games (12 goals)
2023– Wrexham – 79 games (7 goals)
International
2008–2009 – Northern Ireland U21 – 7 games (0 goals)
2012–2023 – Republic of Ireland – 103 (11 goals)
Honours
Derry City
League of Ireland First Division: 2010
Wigan Athletic
EFL League One: 2021–22
Wrexham
EFL League Two runner-up (promotion): 2023–24
EFL League One runner-up (promotion): 2024–25
Individual
PFAI First Division Team of the Year: 2010
Sunderland Young Player of the Year: 2011–12
Wigan Player of the Year: 2014–15, 2022–23
RTÉ Sports Person of the Year: 2017
Stoke City Player of the Year: 2019–20
EFL League One Team of the Year: 2021–22
