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Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an
English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the
England national team. He is occasionally utilised on the wing or in a deeper playmaker position.
Rooney made his senior international debut in 2003 becoming the youngest player to represent England, until he got beaten by Theo Walcott. He is England's youngest ever
goalscorer. He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the competition's youngest goalscorer. Rooney featured at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and is widely regarded as his country's best
player. He has won the England Player of the Year award twice, in 2008 and 2009. As of October 2012, he has won 78 international caps and scored 32 goals, making him England's fifth highest goalscorer in
history. Along with David Beckham, Rooney is the most red carded player for England, having been sent off
twice.
Aged nine, Rooney joined the youth team of Everton, for whom he made his professional debut in 2002. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club, before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. The same year, Rooney acquired the nickname
"Wazza". Since then, with Rooney in the team, United have won the Premier League four times, the 200708 UEFA Champions League and two League Cups. He also holds two runner-up medals from the Champions League and has twice finished second in the Premier League. In April 2012, Rooney scored his 180th goal, making him United's fourth-highest goal-scorer of all
time.
In 200910, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. He has won the Premier League Player of the Month award five times, a record he shares with Steven Gerrard. He came fifth in the vote for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or and was named in the FIFPro World 11 for 2011. Rooney has won the 'Goal of the Season' award by the
BBC's Match of the Day poll on three occasions, with his bicycle kick against rivals Manchester City winning the 'Premier League Goal of the 20 Seasons'
award. Rooney is the third highest-paid footballer in the world after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with an annual income of 20.7m (£18m) including sponsorship deals.
Early life
Rooney was born in Croxteth, Liverpool to Thomas Wayne and Jeanette Marie (nιe Morrey)
Rooney. He is of Irish descent and was brought up as a Roman Catholic with younger brothers Graham and
John; all three attended Our Lady and St Swithin's primary school and the De La Salle Humanities
College. He grew up supporting his local club Everton.
Club career
- Everton - Youth squads
Rooney began playing for Liverpool Schoolboys and until May 2010 he held the record of 72 goals scored in one
season. At age nine, Rooney played for Copplehouse boys' club in the local Walton and Kirkdale junior league and scored 99 goals in his final season before being spotted by Everton scout Bob
Pendleton. Rooney joined Everton at age nine, and was the Everton mascot for the Merseyside derby against Liverpool as an
11-year-old. In the 199596 season he scored 114 goals in 29 games for Everton's under-10s and
11s, and by 15 years old he was playing for the under-19s. He scored eight goals in eight games during Everton's run to the FA Youth Cup final in
2002. This included one goal in the final defeat against Aston Villa and upon scoring he revealed a T-shirt that read, "Once a Blue, always a
Blue." Rooney was included in the first team squad for their training camp in
Austria in the summer of 2002 and scored his first senior goal in a 31 friendly victory over SC Weiz on 15
July.
First team breakthrough
"Rooney is the biggest England talent I've seen since I arrived in England. There has certainly not been a player under 20 as good as him since I became a manager here."
Arsθne Wenger on Rooney following his last-minute goal against Arsenal in October
2002.
Rooney was an unused substitute in Everton's 10 away win over Southampton in April
2002. His senior debut came the following season on 17 August in a 22 home draw against Tottenham, at this time he became the second youngest first-team player in Everton history behind Joe Royle. His first senior goals came on 2 October as he scored twice in a 30 away win over Wrexham in the League
Cup. These goals meant that Rooney was Everton's youngest-ever goal-scorer at the
time. On 19 October, five days before his 17th birthday, Rooney scored a last-minute winning goal against
Arsenal. This goal ended Arsenal's 30-match unbeaten
run, and also made Rooney the youngest goal-scorer in Premier League history, a record that has since been surpassed twice by both James Milner and James
Vaughan. He scored the only goal in a 10 away win over Leeds United fifteen days
later.
In December, Rooney was named 2002's BBC Young Sports Personality of the
Year. Six days on from claiming this award he scored the winning goal against
Blackburn Rovers in a 21 home
win. His first career red-card came on boxing day in a 11 away draw against Birmingham City for a late challenge on Steve
Vickers. In January 2003, Rooney signed his first professional contract which made him one of world football's highest-paid
teenagers. Rooney's first goal in 2003 came on 23 March, netting Everton's only goal in a 21 loss at
Arsenal. In April, he scored a goal in Everton's 21 home win over Newcastle
United, before hitting a last-minute winner against Aston Villa in another 21 home
win. He ended his debut season with 8 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for the
Toffees.
Rooney scored his first goal of the 200304 season in a 22 away draw against Charlton on 26 August
2003. He did not find the net again until December when he scored in a 21 away win over
Portsmouth, and a 32 home win over Leicester
City. His final goal of 2003 came on his 50th league appearance, netting the only goal in a 10 home win over Birmingham on 28
December. On 21 February 2004, Rooney netted his first Premier League brace in a 33 away draw against
Southampton. He scored the only goal in a 10 win over Portsmouth on 13
March, before scoring in a 11 away draw against Leicester City one week
later. He scored his final goal of the season in a 11 away draw against Leeds United on 13
April.
Manchester United
200405 season
Rooney's agent snubbed a three-year, £12,000-a-week contract offer from Everton in August 2004, leaving Manchester United and Newcastle United to compete for his signature. Everton rejected a bid of £20 million from
Newcastle, and Manchester United ultimately won the bidding war with Rooney signing for them at the end of the month after a £25.6 million deal with Everton was
reached. It was the highest fee ever paid for a player under 20 years old; Rooney was still only 18 when he left
Everton.
Rooney was given the number 8 shirt upon his arrival at Old Trafford. He made his United debut on 28 September in a 62 home win over Fenerbahηe in the Champions League, scoring a hat-trick and laying on an
assist. These goals made Rooney the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League aged 18 years 335
days. However, his first season with Manchester United ended without winning a trophy as they could only manage a third place finish in the
league, and failed to progress to the last eight of the Champions
League. United had more success in the cup competitions, but were edged out of the League Cup in the semi finals by a Chelsea
side who also won the Premier League title that season, and a goalless draw with Arsenal in the
FA Cup final was followed by a penalty shoot-out
defeat. However, Rooney was United's top league scorer that season with 11 goals, and was credited with the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
200507
In September 2005, Rooney was sent off in a Champions League clash with Villarreal of
Spain (which ended in a goalless draw) for sarcastically clapping the referee who had booked him for an unintentional foul on an
opponent. His first trophy with United came in the 2006 League Cup, and he was also named man of the match after scoring twice in United's 40 win over Wigan Athletic in the
final. In the Premier League, however, an erratic start to the season left title glory looking unlikely for United and their title hopes were ended in late April when they lost 30 away to champions Chelsea and had to settle for second
place. Rooney sustained a broken metatarsal in that game after a tackle made by Paulo
Ferreira. Rooney's goalscoring further improved in the 200506 season, as he managed 16 goals in 36 Premier League
games.
Rooney was sent off in an Amsterdam Tournament match against Porto on 4 August 2006 after hitting Porto defender Pepe with an
elbow. He was punished with a three-match ban by the FA, following their receipt of a 23-page report from referee Ruud Bossen that explained his
decision. Rooney wrote a letter of protest to the FA, citing the lack of punishment handed down to other players who were sent off in friendlies. He also threatened to withdraw the FA's permission to use his image rights if they did not revoke the ban, but the FA had no power to make such a
decision.
During the first half of the 200607 season, Rooney ended a ten-game scoreless streak with a hat-trick against Bolton
Wanderers, and he signed a two-year contract extension the next month that tied him to United until 2012. By the end of April, a combination of two goals in an 83 aggregate quarter-final win over Roma and two more in a 32 semi-final first leg victory over
Milan. By the end of that season, he had scored 14 league goals. Rooney collected his first Premier League title winner's medal at the end of the 200607
season.
200709
In June 2007, Rooney was handed number 10, last worn by Ruud van
Nistelrooy. He fractured his left metatarsal in United's opening-day goalless draw against
Reading on 12 August, the same injury he had suffered to his right foot in
2004. After being sidelined for six weeks, he returned for United's 10 Champions League group stage win over Roma on 2 October, scoring the match's only
goal. However, barely a month into his return, Rooney injured his ankle during a training session on 9 November, and missed an additional two
weeks. His first match back was against Fulham on 3 December, in which he played 70
minutes. Rooney missed a total of ten games and finished the 200708 season with 18 goals (12 of them in the
league), as United clinched both the Premier League and the Champions League, in which they defeated league rivals
Chelsea in the competition's first-ever all-English
final.
On 4 October 2008 in an away win over Blackburn
Rovers, Rooney became the youngest player in league history to make 200
appearances. On 14 January after scoring the only goal of the game 54 seconds into the 10 win over
Wigan Athletic, Rooney limped off with a hamstring ailment in the eighth minute. His replacement, Carlos Tιvez, was injured himself shortly after entering the game, but stayed
on. Rooney was out for three weeks, missing one match apiece in the League Cup and FA Cup, along with four Premier League
matches. On 25 April 2009, Rooney scored his final league goals of the season against
Tottenham. United scored five goals in the second half to come from 20 down to win 52. Rooney grabbed two goals, set up two and provided the assist that led to the penalty for United's first
goal. Rooney ended the season with 20 goals in all competitions. Once again, he managed 12 goals in the
league.
200910 season
Rooney's start to the new campaign got off to great scoring ways, grabbing a goal in the 90th minute of the 2009 Community Shield, though United lost the game to Chelsea on
penalties. He then scored the only goal of the opening game of the 200910 season against Birmingham City, taking his overall United tally to
99. He failed to score in the next game, a historic 10 defeat to the hands of newly promoted Burnley at Turf Moor. On 22 August, he became the 20th Manchester United player to have scored at least 100 goals for the club, when he found the net twice in a 50 away win at Wigan
Athletic.
On 29 August, United played Arsenal at Old Trafford. Rooney scored the equaliser from the penalty spot after Andrei Arshavin had put the Gunners ahead. The game finished 21 to Manchester United after Abou Diaby scored an own
goal. Five days later Rooney commented on his penalty against Arsenal: "Everyone who watches me play knows I am an honest player, I play the game as honestly as I can. If the referee gives a penalty there is nothing you can
do."
On 28 November 2009, Rooney scored his first hat-trick for three years in a 41 away victory against Portsmouth, with two of them being
penalties. On 27 December 2009, he was awarded Man of the Match against Hull City. He was involved in all the goals scored in the game, hitting the opener and then giving away the ball for Hull's equalizing penalty. He then forced Andy Dawson into conceding an own goal and then set up Dimitar Berbatov for United's third goal which gave them a 31
victory. On 30 December 2009, three days on from their victory over Hull, he grabbed another goal in United's 50 thrashing of Wigan in their final game of the
decade. On 23 January 2010, Rooney scored all four goals in Manchester United's 40 win over Hull City; three of the goals came in the last 10 minutes of the match. This was the first time in his career that he bagged four in one
match. On 27 January 2010, he continued his scoring run by heading the winner in the second minute of stoppage time against derby rivals Manchester City.
This gave United a 43 aggregate win, taking them into the final, it was his first League Cup goal since netting two in the 2006
final. On 31 January 2010, Rooney scored his 100th Premier League goal in a 31 win over Arsenal for the first time in the league at the Emirates, notably his first Premier League goal also came against
Arsenal. On 16 February 2010, Rooney hit his first European goals of the season, scoring two headers in the 32 away win against Milan in Manchester United's first ever win against them at the San
Siro. On 28 February 2010, he scored another header against Aston Villa (his fifth consecutive headed goal in a row) which resulted in Manchester United winning the League Cup final
21. In the second leg of United's European tie against
Milan, Rooney scored a brace in a resounding 40 home victory, taking his tally of goals this season to
30. He then added two more to his tally five days later at Old Trafford, in a 30 league win over
Fulham.
On 30 March 2010, during United's Champions League quarter-final first leg defeat against Bayern Munich at Munich's Allianz Arena, Rooney crumpled when he twisted his ankle in the last minute, hobbling off while Bayern were producing the build up that led to their second
goal. There were fears that he had received serious ligament damage or even a broken ankle, but it was announced that the injury was only slight ligament damage, and that he would be out for 2 to 3
weeks, missing United's crunch match with Chelsea and the return leg against Munich the following
week. The team list for second leg yielded a massive surprise when Rooney was given a starting place in the United
lineup. Despite a 30 lead by the 41st minute, Munich snatched a goal back and United were later forced down to 10 men after Rafael da Silva was sent-off. Munich won the match after netting a second
away-goal and Rooney was substituted after re-damaging his ankle. On 25 April, Rooney was named the 2010 PFA Players' Player of the
Year.
201011 season
On 28 August 2010, Rooney scored his first goal of the season as he netted a penalty in a 30 home win over West Ham
United. In October, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson stated at a press conference that Rooney wanted to quit the
club. This came after a period of dispute as to the extent of Rooney's ankle injury, where Rooney had refuted Ferguson's claim that the injury was the reason Rooney had been dropped to the
bench. Rooney and his representatives released a statement regarding his decision to leave the club, insisting it is not down to money but
ambition. Following this statement, Rooney made a dramatic U-turn and agreed a new five-year contract at Manchester United until June
2015.
Rooney made his return to the first team as a substitute against Wigan on 20
November. Four days later he returned to the starting line-up and scored a penalty in a 10 away win over Rangers in the Champions
League. He missed a penalty in a 10 home win over Arsenal on 13
December. His first goal of the season from open play came on 1 January 2011 in a 21 away win over West Bromwich
Albion. On 1 February, Rooney scored twice and assisted Nemanja Vidić's goal in a 31 home win over Aston
Villa. On 12 February, Rooney scored an overhead volley in the 78th minute of the Manchester derby, which proved to be the winning goal in their 21 win over Manchester
City. After the match, Rooney said it was the best goal of his career, before Sir Alex Ferguson described the strike as the best goal he has ever witnessed at Old
Trafford. Two weeks later he scored the third goal in a 40 away win over
Wigan, before opening the scoring in a 21 away loss to Chelsea on 1
March. Rooney scored the second goal in a 20 home win over Arsenal in an FA Cup tie on 12
March.
On 2 April, United came from two goals down as Rooney scored his first hat-trick of the season in a 42 away win over West Ham
United. This was his fifth hat-trick for Manchester
United, whilst the second goal was his 100th in the Premier League for the
club. He is the third Manchester United player to score 100 Premier League goals, joining Ryan Giggs and Paul
Scholes. During Rooney's celebrations following his third goal, he swore into a pitchside camera and was subsequently charged by the Football Association for using offensive
language. Rooney accepted the charge, but not the automatic two-match ban which was handed to
him. He appealed against the length of the suspension, calling it "excessive", but failed to overturn the two-match ban which ruled him out of the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on 16
April. The following game on 6 April saw Rooney scored the only goal in a 10 away win against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final first
leg. He followed this goal up with another strike in the semi-final first leg against German side Schalke on 26 April, scoring the second of a 20 away
win. This was the first time Rooney had returned to the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen since his sending off during the 2006 FIFA World Cup against
Portugal.
On 14 May 2011, Rooney successfully converted a penalty for United to equalise and give them a 11 draw against
Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in the penultimate game of the Premier League season enough to secure a record 19th top division title for United, and giving Rooney his fourth Premier League title winner's
medal.
201112 season
Rooney started the season with a goal in the first league game at The Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion. Rooney played a one-two with Ashley Young before a sharp turn and finish from outside the box which found the bottom corner of the goal. He also scored in the second game of the season, at home to Tottenham Hotspur, when he headed in a Ryan Giggs cross late in the
game. In late August, Rooney scored his 150th goal for United, the first of a hat-trick, helping to demolish Arsenal
82. Rooney won man of the match, scoring two free kicks, a penalty, and also contributing an assist for Nani. He followed this up with another hat-trick in the next game; a 50 away win over Bolton Wanderers on 10 September, becoming only the fourth player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in consecutive
games.
These goals brought him level with Sir Bobby Charlton on seven United hat-tricks, joint fourth on the all-time list behind Denis Law, Jack Rowley and Dennis
Viollet. Rooney scored in United's next game, a 31 home win over Chelsea but did miss a penalty in the second half when he slipped on his run up and skied the ball over. After revelations about his father in the media and the fallout from his red card against Montenegro on international duty, he was left out of the starting line-up against Liverpool on 15 October 2011. He returned to action on 18 October 2011, where he scored two goals in the group stage-match against
Oelul Galai and surpassed his former teammate Paul Scholes as the most-scoring Englishman in UEFA Champions
League.
On 10 December, Rooney ended an 8 game goal drought with a brace against Wolves in a 41 win at Old Trafford. For the first goal he cut inside from the left and drilled in a low shot through the crowd of defenders. His second goal was assisted by Antonio Valencia who crossed the ball from the right wing and Rooney met it on the half volley to find the bottom right hand corner of the net. On 18 December, Rooney continued his goal scoring form heading home the opening goal against QPR, making it Manchester United's quickest goal of the season so far after just 52 seconds at Loftus Road. He was assisted by Antonio Valencia's cross. On 21 December, Rooney scored his 130th Premier League goal in his 300th Premier League appearance against Fulham at Craven Cottage with a long range effort that crashed in off the inside of the post in a 50 win.
On 8 January, Rooney scored two goals in the FA Cup third round 32 away win against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium. His first goal was assisted by Antonio Valencia who swung the ball towards the far post, where Rooney bulldozed between Nani and Richards powering a header against the underside of the crossbar and into the net. Danny Welbeck was involved in Rooney's second goal. He was needlessly scythed down by Aleksandar Kolarov inside the penalty area, prompting the clear penalty award. City's goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon saved the initial Rooney spot kick, but the United striker calmly nodded the rebound into the unguarded goal. With his two goals, Rooney went past Mark Hughes in United's all-time top goalscorers table heading up to seventh place overall with 164 goals. On 14 January, Rooney made a big contribution to his team in a 30 home win against Bolton. Although he had missed a penalty and almost found the net on a few occasions, he did create two goals by assisting Paul Scholes for the first goal and later in the second half Danny Welbeck for the second goal. On 5 February, Rooney scored two goals from the penalty spot as United came back from a 30 deficit to draw 33 in a Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
On 11 February 2012, Rooney marked his 500th senior career game by scoring two goals as United beat rivals Liverpool 21 at Old Trafford. This was also his 350th game for United in all
competitions. On 4 March Rooney scored the first goal in a 31 away win against
Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and went past Joe Spence in Manchester United's all-time top goalscorers table heading up to sixth place overall with 169 goals. He scored another brace in his next game, against Atletico Bilbao in the Europa
League. On 11 March Rooney scored the two goals that brought United the victory against West Bromwich Albion in a 20 home win. On 15 March, Rooney scored in the 2nd leg of the Europa League tie vs Athletic Bilbao in Bilbao despite United losing 21 on the night and 53 on aggregate.
Rooney accidentally broke 9-year-old fan Jamie Thomas' wrist with a stray shot before Manchester United's 50 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 18 March 2012. Rooney was not aware of the incident at the time, but has apologised to the schoolboy and promised to send him a personalised
gift.
201213 season
Despite starting the opening game of the season against Everton, Rooney was dropped to the bench for the second game against Fulham in favour of new signing Robin van
Persie. After coming on for Shinji Kagawa in the 68th minute, Rooney suffered a severe gash to his right leg caused by Fulham's Hugo Rodallega that kept him out for four
weeks. He made his come back on 29 September in a 3-2 loss against
Tottenham. 3 days later he assisted both Robin van Persie goals in 2-1 win against CFR Cluj in the
UEFA Champions League. He scored his first goals of the season in a 4-2 league win at home to Stoke City on 20 October, where he reached his 200th club
goal.
International career
Rooney became the youngest player to play for England when he earned his first cap in a friendly against Australia on 12 February 2003 at
seventeen, the same age at which he also became the youngest player to score an England
goal. Arsenal youngster Theo Walcott broke Rooney's appearance record by 36 days in May
2006. This came after Wayne ignored calls from Irish supporters to play for the Republic of Ireland, whom he is eligible to play for due to his Grandmother being born in
Ireland.
His first tournament action was at Euro 2004, in which he became the youngest scorer in competition history on 17 June 2004, when he scored twice against
Switzerland; however, this record was topped by Swiss midfielder Johan Vonlanthen four days
later. Rooney suffered an injury in the quarter-final match against Portugal and England were eliminated on
penalties.
Following a foot injury in an April 2006 Premier League match, Rooney faced a race to fitness for the 2006 World
Cup. England attempted to hasten his recovery with the use of an oxygen
tent, which allowed Rooney to enter a group match against Trinidad and
Tobago and start the next match against Sweden. However, he never got back into game shape and went scoreless as England bowed out in the quarter-finals, again on penalty
kicks.
Rooney was red-carded in the 62nd minute of the quarter-final for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho as both attempted to gain possession of the ball, an incident that occurred right in front of referee Horacio
Elizondo. Rooney's Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo openly protested his actions, and was in turn shoved by
Rooney. Elizondo sent Rooney off, after which Ronaldo was seen winking at the Portugal
bench. Rooney denied intentionally targeting Carvalho in a statement on 3 July, adding, "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but I'm disappointed that he chose to get involved. I suppose I do, though, have to remember that on that particular occasion we were not
teammates." Elizondo confirmed the next day that Rooney was dismissed solely for the infraction on
Carvalho. Rooney was fined CHF5,000 for the incident.
Rooney top scored for England in their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign with 9 goals; one behind the UEFA section's overall top goalscorer, Theofanis Gekas of
Greece. On 14 November 2009, Rooney captained England for the first time in a pre-tournament friendly with
Brazil.
During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after England drew with Algeria, the England players were booed off the pitch by supporters. Rooney made a comment as he left the pitch to television cameras saying, "Nice to see your home fans boo you, that's loyal
supporters". He later apologised for the comment made during a lacklustre tournament for England who were eliminated in the second
round.
The Euro 2012 qualifications went well for England, as they qualified in first place of their group, winning five and drawing three games out of eight. Rooney scored three goals, one against Switzerland and two against Bulgaria. In the last qualifier against Montenegro (22), Rooney was sent off for a tackle on Miodrag Dudović in the 74th
minute. At first, it was known that Rooney would miss at least one match in the opening round of the first phase at UEFA Euro 2012. After the game with Montenegro, Rooney sent a personal letter to UEFA in which he apologised and expressed regret for the tackle on Dudović which earned him the red
card. Despite the letter, UEFA punished Rooney with a three game ban, meaning that he couldn't play in any of the group stage matches. After UEFA's announcement, Dudović stated that he believed the sentence for Rooney was too severe and that he would defend him if needed. He later asked the UEFA to pardon Rooney. The FA then decided they would appeal to UEFA against the ban. On 8 December 2011, after The FA had appealed the
ban, UEFA reduced the sentence to two matches. This meant that Rooney missed the matches against France and Sweden. He was able to play in the final match of the group stage against Ukraine on 19 June 2012, scoring the only goal of the game, allowing England to progress to the
quarterfinals. England were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals against Italy, who after a scoreless 120 minutes won 4-2 on penalties, although Rooney was able to net his spot-kick.
After another international tournament in which the Englsh media criticized Rooney's
performances, Fabio Capello claimed Rooney "only plays well in
Manchester" However, on 12 October 2012, Rooney became England's 5th highest goalscorer of all time after scoring his 30th and 31st international goals in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against San
Marino. Rooney captained England for the first time in a competitive match in the same game.
PRIVATE
LIFE (hardly)
In addition to Everton, Rooney also supports Celtic.
In June 2011, he visited the Harley Street Hair Clinic and had a hair
transplant.
It was announced in July 2011, that Wayne Rooney's jersey was the best-selling sports product that is under the auspices of the Premier League. Manchester United sold, during the 200910 season, between 1.2 million and one and a half million shirts and it is estimated that of that, Rooney's name was printed on several hundred thousand. The account is taken from official jerseys sales across the globe, not just in
England.
Family - Rooney's wife, Coleen, in October 2006
Rooney met his wife, Coleen Rooney (nιe McLoughlin), while both were at secondary
school. They married on 12 June 2008 after six years of dating, during which Rooney admitted to soliciting prostitution in Liverpool in 2004. "I was young and stupid. It was at a time when I was very young and immature and before I had settled down with
Coleen." He has a tattoo of the words "Just Enough Education to Perform", the title of an album by his favourite band, the Stereophonics; Coleen arranged for the group to play at their wedding
reception. The wedding ran into some controversy with the Catholic Church. The couple held a religious ceremony at the Abbey of Cervara, a converted monastery near Genoa, despite being warned by the local bishop's office against the plan. The bishop's office told the Rooneys that La Cervara is deconsecrated and not suitable for a
wedding. It suggested a different church, five miles away. Nevertheless, the couple ignored the advice and Father Edward Quinn, their local priest from Croxteth, presided over a ceremony in which rings were
exchanged.
In April 2006, he was awarded £100,000 in libel damages from tabloids The Sun and News of the World, who had claimed that he had assaulted Coleen in a nightclub. Rooney donated the money to
charity.
The Rooneys reside in a £4.25 million mansion in the village of
Prestbury, Cheshire, which was built by a company owned by Dawn Ward, the wife of former Sheffield United striker Ashley
Ward. He also owns property in Port Charlotte, Florida. While Rooney was house hunting in Cheshire after signing with Manchester United, he spotted a pub sign that read "Admiral Rodney", which he misread as "Admiral Rooney." He nonetheless considered it a positive omen for his future
home. Rooney owns a French mastiff dog, which was reportedly bought for £1,250.
Rooney's wife Coleen announced on 7 April 2009 that the couple were expecting their first
baby. Coleen gave birth to their son, Kai Wayne Rooney, on 2 November
2009.
Rooney's younger brother, John Rooney, is also a professional footballer, who has played with Macclesfield Town, and in January 2011 signed a contract to play in Major League Soccer in the
United
States. John was selected by the New York Red Bulls in the second round of the 2011 MLS
SuperDraft.
Commercial interests
Rooney has endorsement deals with Nike (he is the face of their T90 Laser IV
boots), Nokia, Ford, Asda, and Coca-Cola. He has appeared on six straight UK-version covers of Electronic Arts' FIFA series from FIFA 06 (2005) to FIFA 12
(2011). In October 2010, Rooney was dropped by Coca-Cola from one of its advertising campaigns in the wake of allegations about his private
life.
On 9 March 2006, Rooney signed the largest sports book deal in publishing history with
HarperCollins, who granted him a £5 million advance plus royalties for a minimum of five books to be published over a twelve-year period. The first, My Story So Far, an autobiography ghostwritten by Hunter Davies, was published after the 2006 World
Cup. The second publication, The Official Wayne Rooney Annual, was aimed at the teenage market and edited by football journalist Chris
Hunt.
In July 2006, Rooney's lawyers went to the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organisation to gain ownership of the Internet domain names waynerooney.com and waynerooney.co.uk, both of which Welsh actor Huw Marshall registered in
2002. Three months later, the WIPO awarded Rooney the rights to
waynerooney.com.
Paul Stretford controversy
In July 2002, while Rooney was with Everton, agent Paul Stretford encouraged Rooney and his parents to enter the player into an eight-year contract with Proactive Sports Management. However, Rooney was already with another representation firm at the time, while Stretford's transaction went unreported to the FA, and he was thus charged with improper conduct. Stretford alleged in his October 2004 trial that he had secretly recorded boxing promoter John Hyland (an associate of Rooney's first agent) and two other men threatening and attempting to blackmail him for an undisclosed percentage of Rooney's
earnings.
Stretford's case collapsed due to evidence that conflicted with his insistence that he had not signed Rooney, and on 9 July 2008, he was found guilty of "making of false and/or misleading witness statements to police, and giving
false and/or misleading
testimony." In addition, the contract to which Stretford had signed Rooney was two years longer than the limit allowed by the FA. Stretford was fined £300,000 and banned from working as a football agent for eighteen months, a verdict he promptly
appealed.
Stretford left Proactive in 2008 and took Rooney with him. Proactive later sued Rooney, claiming £4.3 million in withheld commissions. In July 2010, Proactive was awarded only £90,000 as
restitution.
David Moyes
On 1 September 2006, Everton manager David Moyes sued Rooney for libel after the tabloid newspaper the
Daily Mail published excerpts from Rooney's 2006 autobiography that accused the manager of leaking Rooney's reasons for leaving the club to the
press. The case was settled out of court for £500,000 on 3 June 2008, and Rooney apologised to Moyes for "false claims" he had made in the book regarding the
matter.
Allegations of infidelity
Rooney reportedly had sex with prostitute Jennifer Thompson on a number of occasions in 2009, while his wife Coleen was pregnant with son
Kai. Prostitute Helen Wood says Rooney paid £1,000 for a threesome with her and Jennifer Thompson in a Manchester hotel whilst Coleen was five months
pregnant. It was reported his solicitors tried to fight the allegations when they first surfaced in early August 2010, but he was unable to prevent the publication of the fresh allegations as he had previously spoken of his shame at paying for
sex. Alex Ferguson has suggested Rooney's form for Manchester United had suffered as he struggled to cope with the intense media scrutiny surrounding his private life due to these allegations.
LINKS
and REFERENCE
Wayne
Rooney profile ManUtd.com
Wayne
Rooney career stats at Soccerbase
Wayne
Rooney FIFA competition
record
Wayne
Rooney UEFA competition record
Wayne
Rooney Transfermarkt
Wayne
Rooney
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