TUESDAY night in Dublin will be the last time Irish fans see James McClean on the Aviva Stadium’s big screen, standing to attention and belting out Amhrán na bhFiann before going into battle.
Last month, the 34-year-old Derry man announced that the international friendly game with New Zealand in the Irish capital will be his last appearance for his country.
In an international career that spanned almost 12 years and four managers, McClean will walk away with 103 caps to his name.
A throwback to another, less manicured era, Irish supporters will lament his absence from the international stage. Scorer of 11 goals, McClean could always sense the “pulse of the people” and what was needed in any given moment in a game.
The former Derry City and Sunderland winger raised the roof off the Aviva on many international nights, simply by clattering into an opponent or taking on the full-back at full pace.
He was always the team’s generous momentum giver.
To him, there was no such thing as a lost cause. When the curtain comes down on his international career on Tuesday evening, he will note that every single stride, every bead of sweat shed, was worth the effort.
The man from Creggan Heights came from an unspoiled, uncomplicated generation of footballers.
Every time he played, he did exactly what wingers were meant to do: run at the opposing full-back and put crosses into the box. And he'd hit repeat a thousand times over.
McClean was manna from heaven to all the strikers he played with at Derry City, Sunderland, Wigan (twice), West Brom, Stoke City and now Wrexham.
“Tony Galvin and James were similar in that they liked to get to the bye-line and get crosses in,” says former Ireland great Ray Houghton. “But there just aren’t enough strikers ahead of him nowadays… For the older generation of strikers James would've been absolutely ideal for the likes of John Aldridge and Tony Cascarino.”
From making his international debut in a friendly game against Czech Republic in February 2012 to Tuesday night's last dance with modest New Zealand, McClean certainly packed plenty into his 103 caps.
Cast as a controversial figure for most of his playing career in England for refusing to wear a Poppy, the hysterical reaction said more about the underlying bigotry within British society that was incapable of embracing more than one viewpoint.
'How dare this ‘Paddy’ object.' His name was outlawed in English League grounds forever more.
“James McClean has more courage in his little finger than I have in my whole body,” says Martin O’Neill, who managed the Derry native during his time with Sunderland and Ireland.
“His strongest body part is his mind,” says former Derry City team-mate in 2011 and close friend Danny Lafferty.
“I never really had a deep enough understanding of the Poppy - but James took a stand and said: ‘I don’t agree with that,’ and made his decision.
“I would share the same views as James, just maybe not as powerfully as he believes. And that’s maybe down to my own ignorance and that I probably don’t care enough, but we still back him and I agree with everything he stands for.
“And yet, he was still getting good moves in England during that time.”
Tony Pulis, his former West Brom manager between 2015 and '17, said in a recent podcast: “For all the stick James got for his political views, I don’t think there’s a nicer lad you could meet. He was a really top lad.”
While there have been many foghorn pieces written about McClean’s refusal to wear the Poppy, his acts of charity and human kindness down through the years never received the same traction.
“I can guarantee you that James will put something in the group in a few weeks’ time asking somebody to go and buy £1000 worth of toys and leave them in Creggan,” Lafferty says.
“I’ve done it for him the last two years and he’ll never seek any recognition for it. It would be kept quiet, almost anonymous in a sense.”
Three years ago, McClean was one of the driving forces behind the creation of a multi-sensory hub in the Aviva Stadium where families can now feel more comfortable bringing their children or family members with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to the venue.
McClean’s daughter Willow-Ivy received an ASD diagnosis and in March of this year the footballer went public with his own autism diagnosis.
“Ach, we could’ve diagnosed James about eight years ago,” Lafferty says with a light-hearted tone.
“It was brave when he made it public, but we didn’t blink an eye. It didn’t change our perception or how we felt. That’s just James. It meant nothing to us. He developed the sensory room at the Aviva and has done loads of things to help other people.”
On the cusp of winning his 103rd cap tomorrow night, how did James McClean get this far? After all, he wasn’t the most technically gifted players along the Foyle.
He started out with renowned youth football club in the city, Trojans, but he wasn’t exactly pulling up any trees in his younger days.
Often overlooked for representative teams, McClean was regarded as a bit of a late developer.
“The Trojans team James played in was a decent wee side but nothing special,” Trojans coach Raymond Carton told The Irish News in 2012.
“They didn’t win anything or do anything spectacular. I have to be honest, and I’ve said this to James, he wasn’t a stand-out footballer as a young player.
“There were other players in his age group that were better than him.”
He didn’t even appear on Derry City’s radar until he played against one of their youth teams while lining out for Waterside club Institute.
John Quigg, head of recruitment at the Brandywell club, recalls: “In that underage game in Drumahoe, we had Shane McEleney, Darren McCauley and Davy McDaid playing against 'Stute. And this wee blonde winger ripped us apart.
“I remember asking McDaid: ‘Who the f*** is that wee lad?’ I worked with Billy Smallwoods in the Road Service and Billy would have been the vice-chairman of Institute.
“I asked him: ‘Is there any chance we could take the young lad McClean to Derry?’ And Billy said: ‘Aye, because I don’t think it’s working out for him at Institute.’”
At that time Stephen Kenny was in charge of Derry City and he immediately saw the raw potential in the kid from Creggan Heights when he watched him play for the club’s reserves in an Ulster Senior League game.
Kenny, who was embarking on a major rebuild after the club suffered enforced relegation due to financial malpractice, soon promoted the youngster and he soared with the Candystripes.
During Derry City’s successful 2010 First Division campaign, Lafferty and McClean made sweet music down the left-hand side of the team.
Between them, they scored 17 goals that helped propel them back to their rightful place in the Premier Division, while centre forward Eamon Zayed top-scored with 26 goals.
“James was very shy,” says local football journalist Kevin McLaughlin.
“He had his own mates, played his football and went home… When Derry won the First Division, we all went to the Derry City social club to celebrate. But James didn’t. He went out with his family.
“The next morning myself and a few of the Derry lads were coming out of the club at about 8am and there was James out running. He was just a fitness freak.
“There were more skilful players – the likes of Patrick McEleney, Niall McGinn and Paddy McCourt… James, you felt, could go across the water but it was more because of his attitude rather than his ability.
“But he is the one player you’d tell any young boy or girl about that wants to make it. He is the one that you’d pin up on the wall.”
“I would never say James was the most technical or gifted footballer,” Lafferty says. “It shows the character of the individual that he is.
“I’ve never met a person who is obsessed with football and fitness more than him – and that is why he’s gone on to achieve what he’s achieved.
“I can recall stories of us going out and James would have come out with us; he wouldn’t have left the dancefloor the whole night, not a drink in him. And at the end of the night, he’d jog home to Creggan in his jeans or whatever he was wearing. He is rare but he kind of had to be rare to be successful.”
McClean flourished under Kenny at the Brandywell and before too long several cross-channel clubs, including Brighton, Wigan Athletic, Swansea and Sunderland, wanted him.
Sunderland won the race to sign the winger and paid Derry £350,000 in August 2011.
The north-east club got off to a poor start in the English Premiership and Steve Bruce was replaced by Martin O’Neill that December.
“When I went to Sunderland I inherited James,” says O’Neill.
“I think he may have been a sub once or twice with the previous manager. I don’t think he got on the field of play. But he came on against Blackburn Rovers in my first game in charge.
“I’d seen a reserve game of him playing a few weeks beforehand. Obviously, he showed a lot of endeavour, he wanted to beat players, race them on the outside and put crosses in.
“He changed the course of our opening game; he came on and started to take players on. We were behind in the game and in that 20-25 minute spell he was fantastic, really fantastic and it was a big win for us. We got an equaliser late on and then we scored the winning goal.
“There is no question that James changed the course of the match and maybe you could say it was the lightning rod for us to go on to better things.”
O’Neill adds: “There were issues with him not wearing the Poppy the following season. Not only was that going to affect him at away grounds, unfortunately, the home crowd turned against him as well. So that didn’t help.
“From being an absolute hero the previous season to being actually booed by your own crowd, which doesn’t help anybody, was a real shame.”
McClean played in the Milk Cup for Northern Ireland and made seven U21 appearances, but he declined several invites to play for their senior team as he waited on the Republic of Ireland’s call, which duly arrived several months before Euro 2012.
Giovanni Trapattoni brought the Derry youngster to the Euros. He came on in the second half against eventual winners Spain in Gdansk and was an unused substitute in the other group game defeats to Croatia and Italy.
By the time O’Neill assumed the reins, McClean had a few years of international experience under his belt. He featured in all four of Ireland’s Euro 2016 games in France, starting against Italy in that memorable night in Lille and against the host nation in Lyon.
“James’s real time with Ireland came in the qualification for the 2018 World Cup,” O’Neill says.
“He scored out in Austria and his performances were absolutely terrific. You could say he was one of the first on the team sheet then because his form for Ireland was so good, culminating in that great goal he scored against Wales in Cardiff.
“Where Jon Walters was the central figure for us qualifying for the Euros, James definitely took that mantle on in the World Cup qualifiers.
“He loved playing for the Republic of Ireland, as they all do, let’s be fair. They loved coming to play. But it was extra special to James, he would never want to miss games.
“He was an exceptionally fit lad. If he’d not played at club level a fortnight before an international game, you never had to worry about James because he was the fittest player in the squad. He played with his heart and soul. I loved him being about the place because you fed off his energy.
“Sometimes he was a little reckless on the pitch. Roy [Keane] and myself weren’t fortune-tellers but we could often see what was going to happen 10 seconds before it did happen, and we’d be saying: ‘Ah, James, don’t go in this time….. agghhh.’ Too late.”
Ray Houghton adds: “It has always been James’s attitude that has stood out for me. I love players that you know what you’re going to get from them.
“I don’t like mysteries – players doing great one week and poor the next. I love players who are consistent game in, game out.
“I would like to see more players like James who have that incredible belief and who give their all. Whenever I think of James that’s what I think of. I don’t think you can ask for anything higher than that.”
In football terms, James McClean is a life lived.
From Trojans to trying to make his way at Institute to John Quigg being left mesmerised by the "blonde kid on the wing" at Drumahoe one night and a player who absolutely loved the freedom Stephen Kenny gave him at Derry City to him tearing down the wing in the English Premiership to living the dream with Ireland for over 11 years.
All the while he faced into a scorching wind, undaunted by the bigotry and bile spewed in his direction, and never once taking a backward step.
As he approaches the latter stages of his playing career, McClean owns the copyright for honest endeavour on a football field.
He perhaps imagined signing off with Ireland at next summer’s European Championships in Germany, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Chest out and staring up at the Irish tricolour in the Aviva Stadium, James McClean will belt out Amhrán na bhFiann for the 103rd time before leaving the international stage.
Irish fans are sure to miss him when he's gone.
“James always felt the pulse of the people,” O’Neill says, “and he galvanised the thing and got the crowd up for the game. Those things are really important to the Irish people. They want to see a contest and he was up for that contest all the time.
“James was exceptionally courageous in the things that he did both on and off the field. His on-field courage matched his off-field courage and I have the utmost regard and admiration for him.”
