Wayne Mark Rooney is an English Footballer who plays for Premier League club Everton was born on 24th October 1985. For me Rooney has been one of the best, most talented, most visionary and most expensive English footballers in history. He mostly plays as forward but he has also been seen playing in various midfield positions too.
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.
1. Rooney is of Irish descent and was brought up as Roman Catholic.
2. Rooney grew up supporting Everton and now he is part of Everton.
3. Rooney began playing for Schoolboys and scored 72 goals in one season, a record which stood until May 2010.
4. At the age of nine, he was spotted by Everton scout Bob Pendleton and joined Everton FC.
5. In the 1995–96 seasons, he scored 114 goals in 29 games for Everton's under-10s and 11s, and by the age of 15, 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."
6. Within seven years of joining Everton youth team, he made his professional debut in a friendly match against Tottenham Hotspur, in 2002. In that match, he was booed by the Spurs fans who shouted "Who are ya?" whenever he touched the ball.
7. On 2nd October 2002, when Rooney scored twice against Wrexham, He became Everton’s youngest goal scorer at that time.
8. On 19 October, five days before his 17th birthday, Rooney scored a last-minute winning goal against Arsenal. and also made Rooney the youngest goal scorer in Premier League history, a record that has since been surpassed twice, by James Milner and James Vaughan.
9. In the year 2002, Rooney was declared as the “BBC Young sports Personality of the Year”.
10. In January 2003, Rooney signed his first professional contract, which made him one of world football's highest-paid teenagers.
11. At the age of 17, Rooney made his senior international debut for England team.
12. While playing in UEFA Euro 2004 he scored four goals, and hence became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the European Championship.
13. He is England’s all-time goal scorer and also second most capped player for his national side.
14. He was picked up by the famous Manchester United club due to his great performance. Manchester United offered him a deal worth £25.6 million. It was the highest fee ever paid for a player under 20 years old. Sir Alex Ferguson, then manager of United, said that “There were plenty of eyebrows raised” when he persuaded the club’s board of directors to consider Rooney for this amount.
15. He was given 8 number jersey and in his debut match for the club he scored a hat-trick making his team going for an easy victory against the opponent team in UEFA Champion League. This hat – trick also made him the youngest player ever to score a hat – trick in UEFA Champion League match. He was merely 18 years and 335 days old at that time.
16. Rooney is originally a boxer and for stress relief he often goes for boxing.
17. He is the most red carded player for England having been sent off twice. He levels this record with another great England player and Captain David Beckham.
18. In 2009–10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. Rooney has won the Premier League Player of the Month award five times.
19. He has been nicknamed as “Wazza” (a reference to former England international Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne, who was also a gifted player troubled by off-field issues). He was given this nickname because of his intelligent and smart display of game as a teenager. He continued to display his outstanding tactics and plan surprising his opponent teams.
20. On June 12, 2008 he finally married a television presenter, Coleen McLoughlin his secondary school mate after six years of dating.
21. Rooney donated £100,000 to charity, the amount he received out of libel damages from tabloid “The Sun” and “News of the World.”
You can learn more from the lows than the highs. The highs are great but the lows make you really look at things in a different way and want to improve. Every player will have both in their careers and I have, but what you get is that experience which is so important to perform at your best. -Wayne Rooney
