James McClean's chaos after Wrexham exit as wife hopes for quiet life

James McClean's wife expressed hopes of a quieter life when the veteran footballer left Wrexham to return to Derry City last month.

However, the reality for the former Republic of Ireland winger has so far proved to be anything but peaceful. The 36-year-old is currently settling back into his hometown with his wife, Erin, and their four children.

The family suffered a disaster last Friday when a fire broke out at their new home in Derry. It's thought a boiler at the property sparked the blaze, but emergency services were able to get it under control quickly.

Sharing the ordeal on social media, Erin wrote: "What a day! Our boiler in our new house caught fire, and we are so lucky it wasn't worse. Thank God for the fire brigade for arriving so quickly and making sure it was safe to return. Very thankful. When it rains, it pours."

Erin previously confessed that the "hardest part of leaving England" was seeing her children say goodbye to their football friends. She shared details of the emotional upheaval of the family's move with her followers on Instagram.

McClean's comeback to Irish football on Saturday night was also eventful. He started for Derry City in their Presidents Cup victory over Shamrock Rovers, assisting Darragh Markey's decisive goal as the Candystripes secured a 1-0 win.

Following his contribution to Markey's winning goal, McClean chose to celebrate right in front of the Shamrock Rovers supporters. Despite receiving verbal jibes throughout the match, he made sure to give some back to the Hoops fans behind the goal.

He then took to social media after the match to criticise the Shamrock Rovers fans, claiming they had called him an "orange b*****d" during his return to the League of Ireland.

Posting on Instagram stories, he wrote: "Getting called an "orange b*****d" from your fellow countrymen... stay classy."

The controversy did not end there, with claims emerging on social media that McClean refused to speak in the press room after the match. Posting on Instagram, he clarified that he had taken exception to the presence of one reporter in particular.

He wrote: "Let's clear this up, because people love posting news without the facts behind it. I refused to do press while Paul Rowan was in the room. I had a few choice words understandably so towards him.

"Back story, after (the) Austria game in 2017 at the Aviva, he went out of his way and wrote to UEFA and FIFA to try and get myself and Martin O'Neill banned for post-match comments. The man in my book is a slimy touting (grass, snitch) cowardly weasel for doing that. End of."

McClean's wife admitted last month to feeling a "huge sense of relief" at returning to Derry. Erin spoke about the emotional weight carried by the family during her husband's 15-year spell in English football, much of it shaped by the fallout from his refusal to wear a poppy.

Speaking at the time, she said: "Now, we're getting to go home and settle and hopefully we lose that negative side of things and life gets a bit more settled and easier."

However, the early signs suggest McClean's Irish swansong could be just as incident-filled.