Wayne Mark Rooney /ˈruːni/ (born 24 October 1985) is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League clubManchester United and the England national team.
Aged nine, Rooney joined the youth team of Everton, for whom he made his professional debut in 2002 at the age of 16. 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".[4] Since then, with Rooney in the team, United have won the Premier League five times, the UEFA Champions League once, the FIFA Club World Cup once and the League Cuptwice. He also holds two Champions League runner-up medals and has twice finished second in the Premier League. In September 2013, Rooney scored his 200th goal for United, making him the club's fourth-highest goalscorer of all time.[5]
Rooney made his senior international debut in 2003, becoming the youngest player to represent England (a record since broken by Theo Walcott). He is England's youngest ever goalscorer.[6] He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship. Rooney featured at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and is widely regarded as his country's best player.[7][8][9][10][11] He has won the England Player of the Yearaward twice, in 2008 and 2009. As of November 2013, he has won 88 international caps and scored 38 goals, making him England's fifth highest goalscorer in history.[12] Along with David Beckham, Rooney is the most red carded player for England, having been sent off twice.[13]
In 2009–10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. He has won thePremier League Player of the Month award five times, a record he shares with Steven Gerrard. He came fifth in the vote for the2011 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.[14] As of March 2011, Rooney was reportedly the third highest-paid footballer in the world after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with an annual income of €20.7 million (£18 million) including sponsorship deals.[15]
Early life
Rooney was born in Croxteth, Liverpool to Jeanette Marie (née Morrey) and Thomas Wayne Rooney.[16] He is of Irish descent[17][18] and was brought up as a Roman Catholic[19][20] with younger brothers Graham and John;[21] all three attended Our Lady and St Swithin's primary school and the De La Salle Humanities College.[22] He grew up supporting Everton.[23]
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.[24] 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.[25] Rooney joined Everton at age nine,[26] and was the Everton mascot for the Merseyside derby against Liverpool as an 11-year-old.[27] In the 1995–96 season, he scored 114 goals in 29 games forEverton's under-10s and 11s,[28] and by 15 years old he was playing for the under-19s.[29] He scored eight goals in eight games during Everton's run to the FA Youth Cup final in 2002.[30] 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."[26] 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 3–1 friendly victory over SC Weiz on 15 July.[29]
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."
Rooney was an unused substitute in Everton's 1–0 away win over Southampton in April 2002.[32] His senior debut came the following season on 17 August in a 2–2 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur,[33] at this time he became the second youngest first-team player in Everton history behind Joe Royle.[34] In that match he was booed by the Spurs fans who shouted "Who are ya" whenever he touched the ball.[35] His first senior goals came on 2 October as he scored twice in a 3–0 away win over Wrexham in the League Cup.[36] These goals meant that Rooney was Everton's youngest-ever goalscorer at the time.[37]On 19 October, five days before his 17th birthday, Rooney scored a last-minute winning goal against Arsenal.[38] This goal ended Arsenal's 30-match unbeaten run,[39] and also made Rooney the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, a record that has since been surpassed twice, by James Milner and James Vaughan.[40] He scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win over Leeds United fifteen days later.[41]
In December, Rooney was named 2002's BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.[42] Six days on from claiming this award he scored the winning goal against Blackburn Rovers in a 2–1 home win.[43] His first career red-card came on Boxing Day in a 1–1 away draw against Birmingham City for a late challenge on Steve Vickers.[44] In January 2003, Rooney signed his first professional contract which made him one of world football's highest-paid teenagers.[45] Rooney's first goal in 2003 came on 23 March, netting Everton's only goal in a 2–1 loss at Arsenal.[46] In April, he scored a goal in Everton's 2–1 home win over Newcastle United,[47] before hitting a last-minute winner against Aston Villa in another 2–1 home win.[48] He ended his debut season with 8 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for the Toffees.[49]
Rooney scored his first goal of the 2003–04 season in a 2–2 away draw against Charlton Athletic on 26 August 2003.[50] He did not find the net again until December when he scored in a 2–1 away win over Portsmouth,[51] and a 3–2 home win over Leicester City.[52] His final goal of 2003 came on his 50th league appearance, netting the only goal in a 1–0 home win over Birmingham City on 28 December.[53] On 21 February 2004, Rooney netted his first Premier League brace in a 3–3 away draw against Southampton.[54] He scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Portsmouth on 13 March,[55] before scoring in a 1–1 away draw against Leicester City one week later.[56] He scored his final goal of the season in a 1–1 away draw against Leeds United on 13 April.[57]
Manchester United
2004–05 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,[58] 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.[59] It was the highest fee ever paid for a player under 20 years old; Rooney was still only 18 when he left Everton.[60] Sir Alex Ferguson, then manager of United, says that "There were plenty of eyebrows raised" when he persuaded the club's board of directors to sanction "a multi-million pound" move to try to sign Rooney from Everton.[61]
Rooney was given the number 8 shirt upon his arrival at Old Trafford.[62] He made his United debut on 28 September in a 6–2 home win over Fenerbahçe in the Champions League, scoring a hat-trick and laying on an assist.[63] These goals made Rooney the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League aged 18 years 335 days.[citation needed] However, his first season with Manchester United ended without winning a trophy as they could only manage a third place finish in the league,[64] and failed to progress to the last eight of the Champions League.[65] United had more success in the cup competitions, but were edged out of the League Cup in the semi finals by aChelsea side[66] who also won the Premier League title that season,[67] and a goalless draw with Arsenal in the FA Cup final was followed by a penalty shoot-out defeat.[68]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.[69]
2005–07
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.[70] His first trophy with United came in the2006 League Cup,[71] and he was also named man of the match after scoring twice in United's 4–0 win over Wigan Athletic in the final.[72] 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 3–0 away to champions Chelsea and had to settle for second place.[73] Rooney sustained a broken metatarsal in that game after a tackle made by Paulo Ferreira. Rooney's goalscoring further improved in the 2005–06 season, as he managed 16 goals in 36 Premier League games.[74]
Rooney was sent off in an Amsterdam Tournament match against Porto on 4 August 2006 after hitting Porto defender Pepe with an elbow.[75]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.[76] 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.[77]
During the first half of the 2006–07 season, Rooney ended a ten-game scoreless streak with a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers,[78] and he signed a two-year contract extension the next month that tied him to United until 2012. By the end of April, he scored two goals in an 8–3 aggregate quarter-final win over Roma[79] and two more in a 3–2 semi-final first leg victory over Milan.[80] By the end of that season, he had scored 14 league goals.[81] Rooney collected his first Premier League title winner's medal at the end of the 2006–07 season.[82]
2007–09
In June 2007, Rooney was handed number 10, last worn by Ruud van Nistelrooy.[83][84] Rooney reasoned that he always loved that number.[85] He fractured his left metatarsal in United's opening-day goalless draw against Reading on 12 August,[86] the same injury he had suffered to his right foot in 2004.[87] After being sidelined for six weeks, he returned for United's 1–0 Champions League group stage win over Roma on 2 October, scoring the match's only goal.[88] However, barely a month into his return, Rooney injured his ankle during a training session on 9 November, and missed an additional two weeks.[89] His first match back was against Fulham on 3 December, in which he played 70 minutes.[90] Rooney missed a total of ten games and finished the 2007–08 season with 18 goals (12 of them in the league),[74] as United clinched both the Premier League[91] and the Champions League, in which they defeated league rivals Chelsea[92] in the competition's first-ever all-English final.[93]
Rooney played in 2008 UEFA Super Cup where United lost to Zenit Saint Petersburg and was unable to make an impact.[94]On 4 October 2008 in an away win over Blackburn Rovers, Rooney became the youngest player in league history to make 200 appearances.[95] On 14 January after scoring the only goal of the game 54 seconds into the 1–0 win over Wigan Athletic, Rooney limped off with a hamstring injury in the eighth minute.[96] Rooney was out for three weeks, missing one match apiece in the League Cup and FA Cup, along with four Premier League matches.[97] 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 2–0 down to win 5–2; Rooney grabbed two goals, set up two and provided the assist that led to the penalty for United's first goal.[98] Rooney ended the season with 20 goals in all competitions. Once again, he managed 12 goals in the league.[74]
2009–10 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.[99] He then scored the only goal of the opening game of the 2009–10 season against Birmingham City, taking his overall United tally to 99.[100] He failed to score in the next game, a historic 1–0 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 5–0 away win at Wigan Athletic.[101]
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 2–1 to Manchester United after Abou Diaby scored an own goal.[102] 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."[103] On 28 November 2009, Rooney scored his first hat-trick for three years in a 4–1 away victory against Portsmouth, with two of them being penalties.[104] 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 equalising 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 3–1 victory.[105]On 30 December 2009, three days on from their victory over Hull, he grabbed another goal in United's 5–0 thrashing of Wigan in their final game of the decade.[106]
On 23 January 2010, Rooney scored all four goals in Manchester United's 4–0 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.[107] 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 4–3 aggregate win, taking them into the final, it was his first League Cup goal since netting two in the 2006 final.[108] On 31 January 2010, Rooney scored his 100th Premier League goal in a 3–1 win over Arsenal for the first time in the league at the Emirates, notably his first Premier League goal also came against Arsenal.[109] On 16 February 2010, Rooney hit his first European goals of the season, scoring two headers in the 3–2 away win against Milan in Manchester United's first ever win against them at the San Siro.[110] 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 2–1.[111] In the second leg of United's European tie against Milan, Rooney scored a brace in a resounding 4–0 home victory, taking his tally of goals this season to 30.[112]He then added two more to his tally five days later at Old Trafford, in a 3–0 league win over Fulham.[113]
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.[114] 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,[115] missing United's crunch match with Chelsea and the return leg against Munich the following week.[115] The team list for second leg yielded a massive surprise when Rooney was given a starting place in the United line-up.[116] Despite a 3–0 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[116] and Rooney was substituted after re-damaging his ankle. On 25 April, Rooney was named the 2010 PFA Players' Player of the Year.[117]
2010–11 season
On 28 August 2010, Rooney scored his first goal of the season as he netted a penalty in a 3–0 home win over West Ham United.[118] In October, Manchester United managerSir Alex Ferguson stated at a press conference that Rooney wanted to quit the club.[119] 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.[120] Rooney and his representatives released a statement regarding his decision to leave the club, insisting it is not down to money but ambition.[121] Following this statement, Rooney made a dramatic U-turn and agreed a new five-year contract at Manchester United until June 2015.[122]
Rooney made his return to the first team as a substitute against Wigan on 20 November.[123] Four days later he returned to the starting line-up and scored a penalty in a 1–0 away win over Rangers in the Champions League.[124] He missed a penalty in a 1–0 home win over Arsenal on 13 December.[125] His first goal of the season from open play came on 1 January 2011 in a 2–1 away win over West Bromwich Albion.[126] On 1 February, Rooney scored twice and assisted Nemanja Vidić's goal in a 3–1 home win over Aston Villa.[127] 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 2–1 win over Manchester City.[128] After the match, Rooney said it was the best goal of his career,[129] before Sir Alex Ferguson described the strike as the best goal he has ever witnessed at Old Trafford.[130] Two weeks later he scored the third goal in a 4–0 away win over Wigan,[131] before opening the scoring in a 2–1 away loss to Chelsea on 1 March.[132]Rooney scored the second goal in a 2–0 home win over Arsenal in an FA Cup tie on 12 March.[133]
On 2 April, United came from two goals down as Rooney scored his first hat-trick of the season in a 4–2 away win over West Ham United.[134]This was his fifth hat-trick for Manchester United, whilst the second goal was his 100th in the Premier League for the club.[135] He is the third Manchester United player to score 100 Premier League goals, joining Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.[136] 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.[137] Rooney accepted the charge, but not the automatic two-match ban which was handed to him.[138] 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.[139] The following game on 6 April saw Rooney scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.[140] He followed this goal up with another strike in the semi-final first leg against German sideSchalke on 26 April, scoring the second of a 2–0 away win.[141] This was the first time Rooney had returned to the Veltins-Arena inGelsenkirchen since his sending off during the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Portugal.[142]
On 14 May 2011, Rooney successfully converted a penalty for United to equalise and give them a 1–1 draw against Blackburn Rovers atEwood 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.[143]
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