Today, November 11, the British celebrate ‘Remembrance Day’, whose symbol has already been represented through a poppy (Red Poppy) in many fundamentally social settings, but also sporting ones, as happened yesterday during the celebration of the a large number of competitions that were held in the British Isles throughout the weekend.
However, not everyone agreed with such widespread recognition. This is the captain of the Welsh Hollywood Wrexham, James McClean, who illustrated one of the scenes of the day when he separated from the rest of his teammates in the minute of silence for the aforementioned Remembrance Day moments before facing Mansfield.
Third in League One, Wrexham once again appears in the information showcase, not because its famous owners, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, have made a second documentary about the Welsh club, but because of a political issue that Irishman James McClean has stopped to explain on his official Instagram account, as a statement, out of respect for his colleagues and so that everyone who has supported him at some point understands the reason why he does not wear the iconic poppy:
“One thing I have never done and will never do is bend to compromise my convictions”
James McClean
The meaning of the poppy
“The poppy represents a totally different meaning for me than it does for others. Does it offend me when someone wears a poppy? No, not at all, what does offend me is when they try to impose the poppy on me,” begins the footballer, who He assumes that he does not wear it because it no longer represents the same thing as it originally did: the fallen in the First and Second World Wars.
It was also British soldiers who murdered 14 innocent civilians on the bloody Sunday in January 1972 in my hometown
James McClean
“It has now been adopted to honor and remember the British soldiers who have served in all the world’s conflicts, including those who opened fire and murdered 14 innocent civilians on the bloody Sunday in January 1972, in my home town, as well as many other brutal crimes throughout Ireland. That is why I have never and will never wear a poppy,” recalls the captain of the Irish national team, who affirms that he respects those who do so because he is aware that they would never impose their beliefs on others.
Criticism for such actions has not been long in coming, even some in the form of threats, and the Irishman has seen how he has not stopped receiving all kinds of messages against him. We must not forget that in the past the footballer has been in the eye of the hurricane on many occasions, not only for the fact of not wearing the poppy, but also for the fact of playing for the Republic of Ireland instead of Ireland. northern.
However, what he also wanted to make clear in his statement is that he does not hate England, because among other things, some of his best relationships are with people born and raised in England. “And they have completely different beliefs than mine,” he concludes, but not before sending a clear message: “One thing I have never done and will never do is bend myself to compromise my convictions.”
