'Disgusting, pathetic and insulting' - Wrexham captain James McClean rages at programme error as FAI issue apology

Ireland’s women’s team were in Euro 2025 play-off action against Wales on December 3, with that contest taking place at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin – as the visitors secured a 3-2 aggregate success. An official publication produced for the fixture has left ex-Republic of Ireland international McClean fuming.

Within the matchday programme was a map highlighting where all of the players in Eileen Gleeson’s squad hail from. The geographical image used included the listing of ‘Londonderry’, rather than ‘Derry’ – which is preferred by nationalists in Ireland.

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McClean, who is fiercely proud and protective of his roots, has hit out at the error on social media. The Wrexham captain said in a post which included a picture of the map in question: “The match programme at last night’s Ireland vs Wales game at the Aviva Dublin...disgusting, pathetic, insulting, hang your heads in shame you shower of arseholes.”

The FAI has acknowledged the “error” and said in an apologetic statement: “The wrong graphic was inadvertently used in an Ireland Women’s National Team match programme, this was a genuine mistake and the Football Association of Ireland apologises for any offence caused.”

It is the second time this year that the FAI has been forced into a programme-related apology, having previously caused controversy with poor translations for an U21 game with Latvia that led to players being listed as ‘Robert the Liar’ and ‘Dario Sh*t’.