Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985 in Croxteth, Liverpool, Merseyside, England) is an English footballer who currently plays for English Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. His transfer fee from Everton still stands as the highest ever paid for a teenager.

Biography

Rooney was brought up in Croxteth, Liverpool, with a working-class family and attended the De La Salle School from 1997 until 2002. He has two younger brothers who later attended the school. Rooney grew up supporting Everton, and his childhood hero was Scottish striker Duncan Ferguson.^[1] Rooney first appeared for Everton in the youth team, and during his time there, after scoring a wonder-goal in the FA Youth Cup, he revealed a T-shirt under his jersey that read "Once a blue, Always a blue". ^[2] However, he would end up playing just two seasons in the Everton first team before demanding, and then executing, a transfer. This has left him on unfavourable terms with Everton fans, and this showed when he returned to Goodison Park and was booed severely.^[3]

Rooney has been under an intense media spotlight since first arriving on the scene in the autumn of 2002, particularly coming to the public's notice on 19 October 2002 when he scored a memorable goal against title-holders Arsenal, ending their 30-match unbeaten run. Receiving the ball some 10 yards outside the 18-yard box, Rooney brought it down firing it into the top left-hand corner of the goal, beating England keeper David Seaman and giving Everton a late 2-1 victory at Goodison Park.^[4]

This goal provoked Clive Tyldesley, the match commentator, to exclaim "Remember the name: Wayne Rooney!". Rooney was five days short of his 17th birthday when he scored the goal, making him the youngest ever goal scorer in the Premiership at the time. Rooney gained a huge reputation on the world stage due to his performance at Euro 2004, as he spearheaded the English attack, scoring four goals in three group games.

Career

Everton

After excelling for Liverpool Schoolboys and The Dynamo Brownwings, Rooney was signed by Everton, on schoolboy terms, shortly before his 11th birthday.^[5] Rooney gained national prominence on the 19th of October 2002 when he became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the Premier League at 16 years and 360 days while playing for Everton (though this record has since been surpassed twice by James Milner and current record holder James Vaughan). His goal against then-champions Arsenal was a last-minute winner and brought to an end the London side's 30-match unbeaten run. At the end of 2002 he won the BBC Sports Young Personality of the Year.

Transfer

Before turning 17 and becoming eligible for a professional contract, he was playing for £80 a week and living with his family on one of the country's council estates. His salary has gradually soared and Rooney now earns more than £130,000 a week. Following intense media coverage of Rooney at Euro 2004, Everton claimed that they would not transfer his contract for less than £50 million. The club offered Rooney a new contract for £12,000 a week for three years. This, however, was turned down by Rooney's agent on the 27 August 2004, leaving Manchester United and Newcastle United to compete for his signature.

The Times newspaper reported that Newcastle were close to signing the young star for £18.5 million, a fact later confirmed by Rooney's agent. Manchester United, however, were the successful club in signing the young talent. Rooney handed in a transfer request to Everton and on the evening of 31 August 2004, Rooney signed for Manchester United after a deal worth around £31 million (£49 million including wages) was agreed. The deal was concluded just hours before the transfer deadline.

The initial fee of £23m was paid to Everton over two years; the rest of the money depends on appearances and/or success at Manchester United and/or England. It is realistic that the fee will reach the maximum £31m within the next 3 years. A final fee in the region of £30m plus costs is more likely. In the club's 2004-05 accounts, Rooney's contract is recorded as having a book cost of £25.066 million as at 30 June 2005, with contingent payables of £4 million, giving a maximum final fee of £29.066 million including costs.^[6]

Rooney's transfer fee is the second highest for an exclusively British deal, with only his Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand commanding a higher fee. Rooney does, however, have the honour of being the most expensive teenage footballer ever, being a few weeks short of his 19th birthday when Manchester United signed him.^[7]

A major factor in Rooney's demands for a transfer had been Everton's recent lack of success and little prospect of their gaining European football in the near future. In a strange quirk of fate Everton made an excellent start to their first season without Rooney, leading the Premiership in early December before finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League for the first time.

Manchester United - Wayne Rooney - Poster

Manchester United

Rooney made his debut for Manchester United on 28 September 2004 in the UEFA Champions League against Fenerbahçe, scoring a hat-trick and also an assist (the match finished in a 6-2 win for United).^[8] For the 2005-06 season, Rooney initially started playing in wider positions than his more favoured central role. Eventually, after Manchester United's poor run of form early in the season, Sir Alex Ferguson moved him back to his stronger position, playing behind Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy as a second striker. He got his first professional Winners Medal in the 2006 English League Cup.

He was also named Man of the Match in the League Cup final against Wigan Athletic, after scoring two goals in the final (a 4-0 victory for United), en route to winning his first senior medal. He was also a member of the United side defeated in the 2005 FA Cup Final by Arsenal. He captained Manchester United for the first time in a home Champions League match against Copenhagen on 17 October 2006, becoming probably the youngest captain in the clubs' history.^[9] On 26 November 2006 he signed a two-year extension to his contract, which will keep him at Old Trafford until at least 2012; the contract extension negotiations only took one month, which was interpreted as showing how keen both sides were to conclude the extension.

During the first half of the 2006-7 season, Rooney went 10 games without a goal before scoring a hat-trick against Bolton. In the FA Cup tie against Portsmouth, Rooney came on as a substitute and scored two goals, one of which was a 25-yard chip over goalkeeper David James, and soon after scored two of United's four goals in the derby against Bolton. Rooney scored his first goal for two-and-a-half years in Europe in a 2-1 defeat to A.S. Roma on 4 April 2007 in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League.

His scoring in the tournament continued in the quarter-final second leg against Roma and the semi-final first leg on, when he scored two goals in the 3-2 victory over A.C. Milan, the second a low first-time drive into the bottom right-hand corner.^[10] By the end of April, Rooney had scored 23 goals for his team in all competitions, putting him level with team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of goals scored in all competitions in the 2006-07 season.

On 30 June 2007, it was announced that Rooney would take over the number 10 shirt vacated by Ruud van Nistelrooy when he left for Real Madrid just over a year earlier. He was formally presented with the shirt by former United and Scotland striker Denis Law, who famously wore the number during his prolific spell with the club.^[11]

On 12 August 2007, Rooney's injury problem returned to haunt him, when, in United's opening game of the 2007-08 Premier League (a 0-0 draw with Reading), he suffered a hairline fracture to a bone in his foot. It was expected that this would keep him sidelined for around two months. On 26 August 2007, Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that he might be back in three weeks.^[12]

On 2 October, Rooney scored his first comeback goal in the Champions League group stage match against AS Roma. United won 1-0.

On 9 November, Rooney damaged his ankle during training. This injury ruled him out for up to 4 weeks missing games against Croatia, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Sporting Lisbon. But his recovery went faster than expected, and he returned to training after 2 weeks. He made his comeback against Fulham on 3 December, playing 70 minutes. ^[13] Rooney played the majority of games, finishing with 18 goals, as he won his second Barclay's Premiership title and United reached the final of the Champions League after a 1-0 aggregate victory over Barcelona with a goal from Paul Scholes in the semi-final round, on route to winning the Champions League title on May 21, 2008.He went on to win the Champions League beating Chelsea in the first all english final.

International career

He has also figured prominently in recent England international matches, after having become the youngest ever player to play for England, in a friendly against Australia, on 12 February 2003, aged 17 years, 111 days. This record has since been surpassed by Theo Walcott, who came off the bench to play in England's friendly against Hungary on 30 May 2006. Before Rooney, England's youngest ever player was James F. M. Prinsep of Clapham Rovers,^[14] who made his debut almost one and a quarter centuries before, on 5 April 1879, aged 17 years, 253 days. Rooney is also the youngest England scorer ever (17 years, 317 days).

His reputation as one of the world's most exciting young players was further enhanced by his highly regarded performances for England at Euro 2004 in Portugal.^[15][16] At the tournament Rooney became the youngest player ever to score in the UEFA European Football Championships, when on 17 June 2004 he scored twice against Switzerland; although the Swiss player, Johan Vonlanthen, broke this record against France four days later. Unfortunately Rooney was injured early in the quarter final match against Portugal and England were subsequently knocked out on penalties.

On 29 April 2006 Rooney was stretchered off in the 82nd minute of a Premier League game between United and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It was later confirmed that Rooney had suffered a broken metatarsal in a seemingly innocuous challenge with Paulo Ferreira, and was left with a race against time to be fit for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Due to his status as a cult hero and the fact that he was by now a key player in the national side, Rooney's recovery made front and back page headlines, as, aided by an oxygen tent, he made a staggering recovery, coming on as substitute for England's second group game against Trinidad and Tobago, and starting alongside Michael Owen in the following match against Sweden. However, the World Cup was to turn sour for Rooney. Struggling for match fitness, his frustration came to the fore as he was banished from the field for a stamp on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho in the quarter final, and England crashed out of the tournament on penalties, with Rooney having failed to find the net.

England Goals

2004 Court Case

In and around 2002 there was a dispute between two groups over who had the right to manage Rooney and this led to a criminal trial after allegations that one side was trying to demand money with menaces from the other. The court was told that one group sought the help of the infamous London gangster Tommy Adams in resolving the dispute.^[17]

Disciplinary issues

Rooney's career has been tainted with moments of ill discipline.^[18] In September 2005, against Northern Ireland, Rooney launched an on-field outburst at former England captain David Beckham,^[19] but since then the pair have played down the bust-up.

His ill-discipline led to his dismissal in the 0-0 draw with Villarreal during United's Champions League encounter in Spain. Rooney was sent off for dissent following his sarcastic applauding of the referee, Kim Milton Nielsen, after he was initially booked for what he felt was an unfair booking.^[20]

Rooney has pledged to keep his temper under control and both his club and international managers have defended him, citing his youth as the main reason for his behaviour. It is known that other teams and players are familiar with Rooney's disciplinary problems and sometimes use them against him, teasing him or provoking him.^[21] Since the 2004-05 season he has been trying to keep his temper in check, as shown by a drop in cards received in the 2005-06 season. In the 2006 World Cup quarter-final match with Portugal, Rooney was sent off after an incident during the 62nd minute of the match. He became only the third English player to be given a red card while playing a match in a World Cup Finals.

Rooney was struggling to gain proper control of the ball as he was involved in a tangle with Ricardo Carvalho and Petit, during which he appeared to stamp on Carvalho's groin. The incident occurred right in front of Argentinean referee Horacio Elizondo. As play was stopped, Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo, a fellow teammate of his at Manchester United, remonstrated with the referee. Rooney then pushed Ronaldo and was shown the red card for what was thought to be a combination of the incidents involving Carvalho and Ronaldo.^[22] However, on 4 July, Elizondo told The Times that the red card was due to the stamp on Carvalho, and not the scuffle afterwards. He said "It was violent play and therefore he got a red card. People can say what they want (about Ronaldo) but this had absolutely no influence. For me it was a clear red card, so I didn't react to the Portuguese players."^[23]

After the match, which England lost on penalties, the BBC pundit team, led by Gary Lineker, showed a clip of what they found interesting in light of Rooney's dismissal. Before the match, Rooney's Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo approached him from behind and placed his head close to Rooney before speaking into his ear.^[24] However the pundits in the studio each said that it was a friendly thing between two friends and teammates. Following Rooney's dismissal, Ronaldo was seen winking at the Portuguese bench but again no-one knows what was said to Ronaldo and the reason for the wink.

On 3 July, Rooney released a statement saying, "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but am disappointed that he chose to get involved. I suppose I do, though, have to remember that on that particular occasion we were not team-mates." He also claimed that his actions were accidental. He also defended his own actions in the statement: "I want to say absolutely categorically that I did not intentionally put my foot down on Ricardo Carvalho. He slid in from behind me and unfortunately ended up in a positioning where my foot was inevitably going to end up as I kept my balance. That's all there was to it. When the referee produced the red card I was amazed - gobsmacked. "^[25]

Rooney was investigated by FIFA's disciplinary committee after being sent off during England's World Cup quarter-final defeat against Portugal, banned for two competitive matches and fined 5,000 Swiss francs.^[26]

Rooney was sent off again for Manchester United in an Amsterdam Tournament game against FC Porto on 4 August 2006 for the use of an elbow on defender Pepe,^[27] and was subsequently handed a three-match ban by the FA following their receipt of a 23-page report from referee Ruud Bossen explaining why he felt it was necessary to send Rooney off in the aforementioned game.^[28] This was viewed as surprising, as other players sent off in pre-season friendly matches were not so sanctioned, and Rooney wrote to the FA threatening to withdraw the FA's permission to use his image rights if the ban was not revoked - however the FA has no procedure to do so.^[29]

Though not related to on-field action, there were reports by British media that Rooney punched Blackburn Rovers' Michael Gray on 2 September 2006. The alleged incident that happened inside a Manchester restaurant was a result of suggestive comments by Gray towards Rooney's fiancée Coleen McLoughlin. Police were not informed about the incident.^[30]

Personal life

Rooney is the first child of Thomas Wayne Rooney (better known as Wayne Rooney senior) and Jeanette Marie Rooney nee Morrey^[31]. He has two younger brothers, Graeme (born 1987)^[32] and John, (born 1990)^[33].

On June 12, 2008, Rooney married Coleen McLoughlin, whom he had dated since age 16, when they were in their final year of secondary school. They live in a £4.25 million mansion in the village of Prestbury in Cheshire^[34], built by a company owned by Dawn Ward, the wife of former Sheffield United striker Ashley Ward.^[35]

In 2004, Rooney admitted to using prostitutes at brothels and massage parlours in Liverpool, He has spoken of his deep regrets regarding those visits saying, "I was young and stupid. It was at a time when I was very young and immature and before I had settled down with Colleen".^[36]

When he moved to Manchester United and was told to find a home in the posh area of Cheshire, Rooney passed a pub which he thought was named "Admiral Rooney" and saw it as a good omen for his future home. It was actually "Admiral Rodney", but Rooney chose the place, Prestbury, anyway.^[37] He also owns property in Marbella and Harbor Pointe, Port Charlotte, Florida.^[38]

Rooney has also lucrative contracts with Nike^[39], Nokia^[40], Ford, Asda^[41] and Coca Cola^[42]. His marketing value is estimated at €46 million, making him the third-highest rated football player behind Ronaldinho and David Beckham.^[43] Rooney appears on the cover of the FIFA 06, FIFA 07 and FIFA 08 video game in the United Kingdom^[44] and was featured on 500 million Coca-Cola cans during the 2006 World Cup. Regarding his private life, Rooney listens to hip hop and rock music, his favourite film is Grease, and his favourite TV series is Only Fools And Horses.^[45] He is also an avid reader of the Harry Potter series. He enjoys boxing, and idolises Muhammed Ali.^[46] He has a tattoo with the words "Just Enough Education To Perform", from the Stereophonics' album of the same name, and, since Wayne is a big fan, Colleen organised for them to play at their wedding celebrations^[47].

The Media

In July 2004, Rooney came under intense criticism for deciding to sell his life story to the Sun Newspaper for £250,000. The decision provoked outrage in Liverpool as a result of the Sun's inaccurate reporting of the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster. Although the newspaper appealed for people to leave Rooney alone and issued an apology, it was roundly rejected by Liverpudliens. In fact Rooney was believed to be upset that he was used in a "cynical" way to issue the apology. ^[48]

In April 2006, newspapers suggested that he owed in excess of £700,000 in gambling debts,^[49] possibly connected to a business partner of Michael Owen.^[50] Days later, he accepted £100,000 (which he donated to charity) in libel damages from The Sun and News of the World newspapers which had claimed he had assaulted his fiancée in a nightclub.^[51]

In September 2006, Rooney was again at a the centre of controversy, accused of punching Michael Gray in the eye following provocation from the Blackburn defender.

Books and website

On 9 March 2006, Rooney signed the largest sports book deal in publishing history with the publishers HarperCollins.^[52] He is to receive a £5 million advance, plus royalties, for a minimum of five books to be published over a twelve-year period. The first book, My Story So Far, an autobiography ghost-written by Hunter Davies, was published after the World Cup. On 1 September 2006 Everton manager David Moyes started a libel action against the Daily Mail, which was publishing extracts of Rooney's book and threatened to also sue Rooney and his book publishers over statements made in the book concerning the circumstances of Rooney's leaving Everton.^[53] As part of the same publishing deal with HarperCollins, the Official Wayne Rooney Annual was produced as a spin-off publication. Aimed at the teenage market, the annual was edited by football journalist Chris Hunt. In 2008 Harper Collins were forced to pay David Moyes an undisclosed sum when a court upheld his libel claim over comments published in Rooney's book. The publisher also issued a public apology to Moyes although Rooney himself has never commented publicly over the allegations of managerial bullying.

Honours

Manchester United

• Premier League: 2006–07, 2007–08
• FA Community Shield: 2007
• Football League Cup: 2005–06
• UEFA Champions League: 2007–08
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2008

Individual

• BBC Sports Young Personality of the Year: 2002
• UEFA Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament
• FIFPro World Young Player of the Year: 2004–05
• PFA Team of the Year: 2005–06
• Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year: 2005–06
• PFA Young Player of the Year: 2004–05, 2005–06
• FA Premier League Player of the Month: February 2005, December 2005, March 2006, November 2007
• FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2008