James McClean: Republic of Ireland and Wigan footballer reveals autism diagnosis as France beat Ireland 1-0

Ireland winger James McClean has revealed he has been diagnosed with autism. McClean’s youngest daughter is autistic and her diagnosis led to the Irish footballer undergoing an autism spectrum disorder assessment.

McClean has featured in both recent fixtures for Ireland, coming off the bench against Latvia and France. His announcement regarding the diagnosis has come during World Autism Acceptance Week and his wife, Erin, has since written of her pride at her husband’s announcement.

Ireland are currently competing in the Euros 2024 qualifiers where they lost their first match to World Cup finalists France. They recently won an international friendly against Latvia, with Callum O’Dowda, Evan Ferguson and Chiedozie Ogbene scoring, but were then unable to hold off against the French with Benjamin Pavard scoring the winner in the 50th minute. Ireland now sit fourth in their qualifying group after one match.

Here is all you need to know about Irish footballer James McClean...

Who is James McClean?

McClean was born in Derry in 1989 and began playing football for both the Trojans and Institute before making his professional debut with Institute in the 2007-08 Irish Premier League season. In 2008, he then moved to Derry City and opened the scoring in a 4-1 win over Bohemians in her debut.

Despite financial difficulties, McClean rejoined Derry in 2009 after the club were invited back to join the League of Ireland First Division and the winger scored eight goals in 33 appearances, helping the side back to the first division.

Following a strong 2011 season, McClean attracted interest from English clubs and joined Sunderland in August. Following two years with the club, the Irish star said he was “hung out to dry” by Sunderland after he refused to wear a poppy and he eventually left the club in August 2013.

He has since gone on to play for West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Wigan Athletic, where he has scored 12 goals in 71 league appearances since 2021. After representing Northern Ireland at youth levels, McClean ultimately opted to represent the Republic of Ireland where has scored 11 goals in his 98 appearances since 2012.

What has been said?

McClean has said: “It’s been a bit of a journey and now having a diagnosis I feel it’s time to share it.” Writing it on Instagram, “As you all know, my daughter Willow-Ivy is autistic. The last four years have been life changing in the most amazing way but also very difficult at times as her daddy, watching her overcome so many obstacles in her life and learning how to manage the challenges she faces on a daily basis.

“The more Erin (McClean’s wife) and I learned about autism the more we began to recognise I was very similar to Willow in more ways than we thought. I see so many small traits in her that I see in myself. So I decided to go and get an ASD assessment.

“I have debated for a while going public in sharing this as I’ve done this for Willow-Ivy, to let her know that I understand and that being autistic won’t and should never hold her back from reaching her goals and dreams.”