James McClean has shared pictures of some of the hate mail that he receives from anti-Irish trolls.
The Stoke City and Ireland winger took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to post pictures of the mail that came in the form of a birthday card, with the caption: “No words needed".
McClean has attracted sectarian abuse from fans across England, in part due to his outspoken views against British rule in Northern Ireland but also due to his refusal to wear a poppy to commemorate British war efforts in November of each year.
The letter appears to have been sent for McClean’s birthday that was on April 22nd and makes reference to both Bobby Sands and the 1972 Bloody Sunday killings, where 14 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British troops in McClean’s home city of Derry.
The letter makes further reference to times when the British Army killed IRA soldiers and alludes to them as football matches that “Ireland” lost.
The letter also added that English football managers should stand up to McClean and not play him because he doesn’t like “this country”.
The tweet has been widely shared across Twitter and condemned by the majority of those replying.
Staffordshire Police also replied to the tweet and said that they could be contacted by phone or by Twitter for a report to be filed in order to investigate the hate mail.
Please call us on 101 or send us a direct message on here if you would like us to investigate this. https://t.co/ntoWZqcEyS
— Staffordshire Police (@StaffsPolice) May 1, 2019
McClean has made 41 appearances for Stoke City in a difficult season for the club who are currently sitting in 16th place with one game left to play.
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