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Wayne Rooney is one of the most celebrated professional footballers to have played for England and Manchester United. Here are some of the interesting facts about him.
- Wayne Mark Rooney was born on October 24, 1985 at Croxteth, Liverpool.
- He was the eldest of three children to Jeanette Marie and Thomas Wayne Rooney.
- He was brought up as devote Roman Catholic and shared the Council house with his parents and brothers.
- He attended Our lady and St. Swithin’s primary school and later De LaSalle secondary school along with his brothers, Graham and John Rooney.
- Rooney’s dream was to play football and began playing for Liverpool Schoolboys.
- When he was nine years of age, he was spotted by Bob Pendleton and joined “Everton FC”.
- As a school boy he had a record of scoring 72 goals in one season, which was broken by another Liverpool schoolboy, Gerard in 2010.
- Within seven years of joining Everton youth team, he made his professional debut in a friendly and scored a goal in 2002.
- Rooney was energetic and versatile player capable of playing in any position.
- Although Rooney was a substitute against Southampton match, he made his senior team’s starting eleven only against Tottenham Hotspur in August of 2002.
- In a match against Arsenal, Rooney set a record of being the youngest to score a goal in the Premier League football match at that time. He was just short of 17th birthday.
- In the year 2002, Rooney was declared as the “BBC Young sports Personality of the Year”. He is the first footballer since its inception.
- He has many nicknames such as “Wazza,” “The Wonder Boy” and “White Pele.”
- As a 17 year old in 2003, Rooney made his senior international debut for England team.
- After earning his English jersey, UEFA Euro2004 was the first tournament he participated. He was named in “UEFA‘s team of the tournament”.
- He was also eligible to play for Republic of Ireland as he was half Irish. He rejected the offer.
- When he signed his first professional contract in January 2003, he was the football’s highest paid teenager in the world.
- Rooney again made headlines, when he moved from Everton to Manchester United for a fee of £ 25.6 Million for being the highest paid youngster.
- He had one more first to his name, when he scored a hat-trick of goals against “Fenerbachce FC” in a Champions League match for being the youngest player to do so.
- Rooney’s first of many trophies with Manchester United came in the 2006 Football League Cup, where they won against “Wigan Athletic” in the final. He was named “man of the match.”
- After the match, team’s kit man Albert Morgan had the ball signed by the players for Rooney’s keep sake.
- He got to wear for the first time, the famed number 10 jersey in June 2007 for Manchester United.
- During 2010-11 premier league season, jersey with Rooney’s name and number was in high demand.
- On June 12, 2008 he finally married a television presenter, Coleen McLoughlin his secondary school mate after six years of dating.
- The couple exchanged marriage vows at a villa in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy.
- British magazine “OK” paid £2.5 million for exclusive right of wedding news and photos.
- In a friendly against Brazil on November 14, 2009, Rooney captained England team for the first time.
- Rooney was awarded 2010 “PFA Player’s Player of the Year” award on April 20.
- In 2010-11 season Rooney’s association with Manchester United almost came to an end following, differences with the manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
- In February, 2012 when Manchester United defeated Liverpool, 2-1, it was his 350 game for united.
- Rooney played his #500 game On February 11, 2012 after 10 years in international arena.
- For 2014-15 seasons, Rooney was named as Manchester United club captain by manager Louis Van Gaal.
- During 2014-15 F.A Cup match against “Preston North End FC” Rooney was accused of forcing a penalty, for which he later apologized.
- After 2014 FIFA World Cup, Rooney was named as England captain on September 2014, following Steven Gerrard’s retirement.
- Till 2014-15 season he has played over 556 matches for his clubs and scored 247 goals.
- He has also represented England in 105 matches scoring 48 goals.
- He jointly holds the record as highest goal scorer for England as of date.
- His goal scoring capacity was evident during 2009-10 seasons when he scored 34 goals in 44 matches which fetched him “Football Writer ‘Player of the Year.”
- During UEFA 2012 qualification, in a match against Montenegro, Rooney was red carded and banned for three games. A decision which was reversed to two games on appeal.
- Rooney has earned six red card and 113 yellow card in 556 matches.
- Rooney pursues boxing as a recreational sport apart from his love for Rugby.
- Rooney donated £100,000 to charity, the amount he received out of libel damages from tabloid “The Sun” and “News of the World.”
- Rooney has two children named Kai Wayne and Klay Antony.
- His return from endorsement deals with top companies placed him among five leading players in 2012.
- He is the author of the books “My Story So For” and “My Decade in the Premier League” in collaboration with publisher “Harper Collins.”
- In 2008 Rooney settled a lawsuit out of court for £500,000 with David Moyes over a false claim about Moyes in his autobiography “My Story So Far”.
- Rooney returns in Everton’s colors on August 2, 2016, for Duncan Ferguson’s testimonial match.
- On January 28, 2015, Rooney joined the list of leading personalities in support for 13 year old Milan Patel who is battling cancer.
