James McClean salutes Wrexham fans singing 'he hates the f*cking King' less than a month after Prince William's visit to Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney-owned club

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Heir to throne William, who is president of the Football Association, took in a trip to SToK Racecourse in March. While in North Wales, he was presented with a personalised shirt by co-owner Rob McElhenney and spoke with players such as Ben Tozer and Luke Young. He said at the time: “It's a great success story you're building here, everything you've started and achieved it's fantastic, so onwards and upwards - it's exciting. And anyone who's a true football fan wants to see you do well.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla have also visited Wrexham in recent times, with Reynolds and McElhenney hosting the royal couple in December 2022 – with that tour of club facilities featuring in the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series. King Charles also paid a visit to The Turf pub, pulling a pint and downing a whiskey while attending the famous watering hole.

Not everybody is a fan of government and royal officials, though, with ex-Republic of Ireland international McClean attracting plenty of attention down the years for his refusal to wear shirts sporting a commemorative poppy. He also turned his back when the British national anthem was played ahead of a friendly outing for West Brom in 2015.

He makes no apologies for his actions and has been warmly embraced by Wrexham supporters, who took to serenading him with a “he hates the f*cking king” chant during the wild celebrations that accompanied confirmation of the club’s promotion out of League Two.

Wrexham have the option to extend McClean’s contract for another 12 months, taking him through to the summer of 2025, with the 34-year-old’s vast experience expected to come in handy as the Red Dragons ready themselves for life in League One.