Controversial Irish Wrexham star James McClean salutes fans singing 'he hates the f***ing King', weeks after Ryan Reynolds' team invited Prince William to their stadium

Controversial Irish star James McClean has saluted Wrexham fans singing an anti-King Charles III chant, weeks after Prince William visited the club.

At the start of March, Prince William visited the pitch at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground to hear accounts of the club's rise since the 2021 takeover by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, and meet staff and players.

Following their 6-0 thrashing of Forest Green Rovers at the weekend, the Welsh club's promotion to League One was confirmed, and fans celebrated with songs about all their players, including McClean. 

In a clip posted on social media, Wrexham fans can be clearly heard singing 'he hates the f***ing King', in reference to the Irishman's well-publicised Republican stance. 

However, the King and Prince William, the president of the FA, have both made well-publicised visits to the Racecourse Ground in the past two years.  

Prince William, the president of the FA, received a personalised shirt from McElhenney and players Luke Young and Ben Tozer on the pitch at the Racecourse Ground, as well as conversing with manager Phil Parkinson. 

The Prince of Wales also poured a pint and downed a whisky with McElhenney at The Turf pub next to Wrexham's ground. 

Reynolds was in New York editing the next Deadpool film during Prince William's visit last month, but MailOnline understands he hopes to meet with the second in line to the throne later in the year. 

Speaking at Wrexham AFC, William said: '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.'

As the third oldest football club in the world, Wrexham's story has fascinated a new generation of viewers from around the world thanks to McElhenney and Reynolds, and the showcase of their ownership on the popular Disney+ documentary Welcome To Wrexham. 

In the first episode of the show's second season, The King delighted royal fans by making a subtle joke about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia to McElhenney.

Charles and Camilla met club owners and actors Ryan Reynolds and McElhenney during a tour of Wrexham's stadium in December 2022, which was broadcast the following September.

McClean has proven to be a divisive figure in British football, and his stance against the Royals is just one of many things that has sparked debate.

Whilst playing for Wigan Athletic, McClean called out the English FA for their failure to deal with anti-Irish abuse in the game after an incident at Blackpool.

The FA previously investigated fans singing anti-Pope and anti-IRA songs towards McClean on a number of occasions. 

In September 2023, McClean admitted regrets about posting a controversial picture of himself in lockdown 'jokingly' home schooling his children in a balaclava, which was interpreted as a reference to the IRA. 

For the post, which was subsequently removed, McClean was fined two weeks of wages by Stoke City - his club at the time in March 2020.

McClean came under fire for turning his back while the national anthem played before a friendly against West Brom in 2015. 

The player has stated this is due to his affinity with Derry, and the role of the British Army in the Troubles and Bloody Sunday.

He has also been criticised for refusing to wear a poppy during games played across Remembrance weekend, a personal decision he made in 2012, but a stance which saw him booed for it a decade later. 

He refuses to wear the poppy because the symbol commemorates military personnel who have died in war – and not just soldiers who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

The winger, who has 103 caps for the Republic of Ireland, left Wigan Athletic and joined Wrexham in August 2023, scoring three goals for his new club this term.  

Earlier this month, a Wrexham fan was banned from attending football matches for three years for directing a racial slur at Tranmere supporters.

Daniel Thomas Monk, 21, admitted a racially aggravated public order offence in Wrexham Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, after shouting 'dirty Scouse b*****ds' and 'dirty English b*****ds' in the direction of a group of Tranmere fans being escorted towards the stadium.