Wrexham striker Paul Mullin has revealed that he was annoyed by King Charles III's visit to Wrexham in December last year.
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Mullin not a fan of royal familyIrked that visit disrupted match preparationsTeam delayed travel for visit of kingGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?
King Charles and the Queen Consort were in north Wales on a visit to mark Wrexham earning city status, and as part of the occasion visited the Racecourse Ground, where they were greeted by the club's co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. But while pictures of the Hollywood pair smiling with the royals went out across news broadcast all over the world, behind the scenes top scorer Mullin was seething.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT PAUL MULLIN SAID ABOUT THE ROYAL FAMILY
In his recently released autobiography, , Mullin revealed how his working-class upbringing in Liverpool meant he was not in favour of the monarchy. "I’ll be straight: this visit might have been billed as an historic day for Wrexham, but it wasn’t for me," he said. "I’ve no interest in royalty. I don’t see why anyone should have the God-given right to be born into such wealth, and then for us to pay for them as well.
"It just comes down to basic fairness. How can one family be entitled to so much just through an accident of birth and then spend their whole lives being lauded for it?
"No one’s made me think that way. I haven’t had these views passed down from my mum and dad. Like most working-class Liverpudlians they’ve just been busy getting on with their lives. At the same time, they’ve always been people who would help anyone out if they could; people who believe in everyone being treated equally. And that’s my view as well."
Getty ImagesWHAT PAUL MULLIN SAID ABOUT MATCH PREPARATION
Wrexham's talisman was also irked on a more practical level, with the visit coming on a Friday before a long away trip. "What the King’s visit meant to me wasn’t a chance to bow to the aristocracy," Mullin continued. "It meant a wrecking ball smashing through our schedule for the game the next day at Eastleigh – one of our more distant away fixtures.
"Normally we’d travel down to a game like this the day before to give everyone plenty of time to recover from the journey, train for a bit, and then rest up overnight. With the King in town that became impossible. He wanted to visit the football club. Everyone having shipped down to Hampshire for the weekend wouldn’t have been a great look."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Mullin's strident political beliefs caused a stir in October last year when Wrexham were forced to issue a statement distancing themselves from the forward's social media post revealing a photo of a pair of boots emblazoned with 'F*** THE TORIES!' — a reference to the UK's Conservative government.
A club statement said Mullin had been denied permission to wear the boots and admonished the player for using the Racecourse Ground as a back drop to the photo.