Wayne Rooney celebrates his 40th birthday on Friday.
Here, the PA news agency digs out some memorable stories about the former England and Manchester United captain.
Derby delight
Rooney’s bicycle kick against Manchester City in 2011 was voted the best goal of the Premier League’s first 20 seasons. It also helped the striker win the goal of the season award on the BBC’s Match of the Day for a third time.
Once a Blue…
He joined Everton, the club he supported as a boy, at the age of nine. A Toffees’ scout had spotted him playing for Copplehouse Boys’ Club on the pitches where Liverpool’s Walton and Kirkdale Sunday League was played. He scored 99 goals in his final season.
Big Nev chipped
At the age of 10 he was Everton’s mascot for the Merseyside derby against Liverpool. He gave a glimpse of his potential by chipping the Toffees’ Wales goalkeeper Neville Southall in the warm-up.
Irish approach
Rooney was eligible to represent the Republic of Ireland through his grandmother. But he turned down an approach from the Republic at the age of 16 and went on to win 120 caps for England, second only to Peter Shilton’s 125.
It’s a knockout
Former Manchester United team-mate Phil Bardsley knocked out Rooney after an impromptu sparring match in the kitchen went wrong following an afternoon at the pub. A video of Rooney hitting the deck went viral, but he made light of the knockout with an Old Trafford goal celebration a few days later.
Goodison no-show
Rooney’s father Thomas refused to watch him on his first return to Goodison Park as a Manchester United player in 2005. “He knew I’d be getting a getting a lot of stick and he’d go to all the Everton games and he wouldn’t go to that one, at Goodison,” Rooney said.
No hard feelings
Cristiano Ronaldo was branded public enemy number one for his wink after Rooney was sent off during England’s World Cup quarter-final tie with Portugal in 2006. But Rooney had no hard feelings towards his United team-mate, saying: “I spoke to Ronaldo right after the game in the tunnel and no issue whatsoever. I just said good luck for the semi-final.”
Locking out Coleen
Evertonian Rooney locked his Liverpool-supporting wife Coleen out of the family home in 2020. He said he took the drastic action after Coleen hung flags out of the house to celebrate Liverpool’s league title success, leaving her on a “little balcony for not too long”.
In the soup
Wife Coleen got her own back on Rooney by snitching on him during her 2024 appearance on ITV show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Coleen revealed Rooney had washed his hands at a World Cup party hosted by the Beckhams in cold soup thinking it was a finger bowl.
Lifesaver
Rooney has said Coleen helped save his life by managing his problems with alcohol during his playing career. “I honestly believe if she weren’t there I’d be dead,” he told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast last month.
