Tour strikes right balance for squad
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The real Wayne Rooney: How a working class kid from a bleak city landscape scarred by drugs, guns and murder emerged as a phenomenon
Journey: From his time at Everton through to United and then on the international stage, Rooney has always been special
A week on Saturday England will meet the USA in Rustenburg and Rooney will be the focal point of a nation’s hopes. There is a ‘Roo-stenburg’ headline waiting to be written.
A steady time in South Africa and Rooney will have cemented his reputation. But a prosperous time and he will be elevated again.
As Rooney said 12 months ago: ‘Next season could be the one that transforms me from someone who could be a great player into someone who is a great player. That’s what I’m hoping.’ He is not alone.
There were no jumpers on the ground down on Armill Road, though. It was Monday lunchtime, suburban quiet, less than 24 hours after that ovation at Old Trafford and three days before the ceremony in London.
Here, on a narrow, short strip of Liverpudlian land, there was nothing to suggest a connection to either event. Yet it was on this patch that the boy-man dubbed ‘the last of the street footballers’ emerged.
No ball games! But that didn't stop him: Armill Road, the street where Rooney used to live
Wayne Rooney, England’s No 10, Manchester United’s No 10, comes from Liverpool 11. It is on the No 14 bus route, the part of Croxteth in which the car-less Rooneys lived.
Some of the extended family are still here — Rooney’s uncle Ritchie runs the local boxing club and a football team called the Oyster Martyrs, in which Rooney’s brother Graeme was a full back — but the Rooneys left the house on Armill Road more than a decade ago.
They moved around the corner, so the territory remains familiar to Rooney and his wife, Coleen, who also grew up in the area. ‘I’ll always be a Croxteth girl,’ is a Coleen statement.
Her father, Tony, was an amateur boxer, as was Rooney’s father Wayne Snr, and the area has that old working-class reputation where sport is valued. It is known chirpily as ‘Crocky’.
Off Armill Road, on Storrington Avenue, one house has the Everton club insignia on its front: Nil Satis Nisi Optimum — Nothing But The Best Is Good Enough. It is a reminder of that famous photograph of Rooney’s front window with its Everton pennants and car number plate.
Few families can be as Toffee-blue Everton as the Rooneys. Wayne Snr wanted to call his first-born Adrian, after Adrian Heath, but Wayne Jnr it is.
True blue: The iconic image of Rooney's bedroom window at his family home in Croxteth
The Evertonian nature of brother Graeme’s Christian name is confirmed by one of his middle names, Sharp. Graeme Sharp and Adrian Heath were forwards in an Everton team that might have dominated Europe but for the Heysel ban.
By the time Wayne Jnr started supporting, his hero was Duncan Ferguson. It is a measure of Rooney’s devotion that he wrote two letters to Ferguson while the combustible, pigeon-fancying Everton centre forward was in Barlinnie Prison in 1995. Rooney was in primary school. Ferguson had never heard of him.
At the top of Storrington Avenue is the Western Approaches pub, where Rooney occasionally re-appears when visiting his mates from his new base in footballer-belt Cheshire.
Here there is another message from a window. It reveals another side to Croxteth, the one that made it infamous nationally, particularly for a few weeks back in 2007.
It reads: ‘In Rhys’ Name, Get Guns Off Our Streets.’ Rhys Jones was 11 when he was shot dead in the car park of the nearby Fir Tree pub in Croxteth.
Also an Everton fanatic, Jones was on his way back from football training. He was buried in a blue coffin with an Everton crest on it. Sean Mercer was charged with the murder. Mercer went to the local De La Salle secondary school. As did Wayne Rooney. It is coincidence.
Loss: The murder of Rhys Jones shook Croxteth's former inhabitant, who left flowers for the murdered youngster
Another came in the Liverpool Echo last month. The guns have not left Croxteth’s streets, far from it — there is a turf/drug/gang war ongoing.
The manager of Western Approaches FC, Nicky Ayres, was murdered on April 29. A man with the nickname Pancake — referred to as a ‘city gangster’ in The Echo — was bailed.
After another recent Croxteth shooting it was reported: ‘Bullet casings were recovered from the pavement outside the bar . . . as parents took their small children to church at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs just 50 yards away.’
The coincidence this time comes in Coleen’s book, Welcome To My World. In it she writes of Rooney, who had just borrowed a videotape of the film Grease from her: ‘That’s when we first kissed, around the back of the local church, the Queen of Martyrs.’
This is a reflection of Croxteth, Liverpool and modern urban England. Should he choose, Rooney could discuss street violence with England team-mate Jermain Defoe, whose half-brother Gavin was murdered in east London last year, or with Rio Ferdinand, who grew up close to where Damilola Taylor was murdered.
Others such as John Terry will have their own street tales to tell, while it was said of Bobby Moore that in 1960s East End London ‘from time to time he had to shake hands with people you’d want to avoid’.
Fifty years on, the car, disappearing playing fields, the academy system and children’s changing lifestyles are cited as reasons why it is believed Rooney is the last of the street footballers. There may be other reasons.
Blues brothers: (From left) John, age 7, Graeme, age 10, and Wayne, age 12, were all snapped up by the Everton academy
Wayne Mark Rooney was born in Fazakerley Hospital in October 1985, when Everton were the champions of England. Wayne Snr was an often unemployed labourer, mother Jeanette worked as a dinner lady in her son’s De La Salle school.
Son Wayne’s primary school, St Swithin’s, did not play organised football, so his first ‘proper’ match came as a seven-year-old, for the Western Approaches under 11 team. Rooney went on as a sub for his debut, and scored. It was the beginning of a Rooney pattern: younger and better than the rest.
Wayne Snr, being a season-ticket holder at Goodison Park, must have held his breath when his first-born was soon offered a trial by Liverpool before Everton. Fortunately for both Waynes, Everton scout Bob Pendleton followed quickly.
Rooney was then playing for a team called Copplehouse. He was shortly in Everton’s centre of excellence and Rooney’s name was quickly going into the notebooks of men across the country who know about these things.
Paul McGuinness, now Manchester United’s academy manager, recalled his first sighting. ‘Our under nines played Everton’s boys and they absolutely hammered us,’ he said. ‘Rooney scored a few (six), but there was one that stood out. 'It was basically the classic overhead kick, the perfect bicycle kick, which for a kid of eight or nine years old was really something special.’
That was the 1995-96 season, when Rooney scored 114 goals in 29 games for Everton’s under 10s and 11s. (Another junior record of Rooney’s was broken last week by an 11-year-old from his old school called Gerard Garner).
A few months later, in November 1996, shortly after Rooney’s 11th birthday, he was Everton’s mascot for the derby game against Liverpool at Anfield. In the warm-up Rooney chipped the ball over an unimpressed Neville Southall.
Gary Speed has good reason to cherish that game. He scored the Everton equaliser in front of the Kop. What Speed also remembered was thinking: ‘Mmm, the mascot’s not bad.’
All at Goodison knew that an exceptional talent was on his way. So did others — Everton had to fight off interest from Wolves, Liverpool and Tottenham — but they knew that until Rooney was 17 they could not sign him as a professional.
There was relief then when two months after his 16th birthday, in 2001, Rooney signed a pre-contract. The significance can be seen in the venue for this event: Goodison Park, in front of 38,000, the day Everton faced Derby in a Premier League match.
Presumably one of Everton’s substitutes will have taken wistful notice: Paul Gascoigne. Everton won but there was to be only one more league victory in the next four months. Manager Walter Smith was replaced by Moyes.
Under Moyes the 16-year-old prodigy began to travel with the first team. And on the opening August day of a momentous 2002-03 season, Rooney was named in the Everton first XI. He had been given the squad number of a released player — No 18, Gascoigne. There was no dream debut goal but Rooney was still delighted. He celebrated with a kickabout in Croxteth that night.
Finding himself replacing or being replaced by Niclas Alexandersson, there was no Rooney goal until the League Cup in October. That night Everton went to Wrexham, who had Sir Alex Ferguson’s son, Darren, in their team. Rooney came on for Tomasz Radzinski and scored twice.
It was the start of Rooney’s month of arrival. Five days before his 17th birthday, on October 19, with Arsenal the visitors, the score 1-1 and the Gunners about to extend their unbeaten league run to 31 games, Rooney replaced Radzinski.
Remember the name: Rooney announced himself to the country with a stunning goal against then Champions Arsenal
There were 10 minutes left. Arsenal were the champions, accustomed to seeing games out. In the 90th minute Thomas Gravesen clumped the ball forward. As it fell, it did so on to the soft toes of a 16-year-old most of the nation had not heard of. In the next two seconds that changed.
Rooney brought the ball down 30 yards from goal, swivelled, looked up and drilled an arcing shot past the gaze of Arsenal’s centre halves, Sol Campbell and Pascal Cygan. Behind them, the ball soared over England goalkeeper David Seaman.
Cygan, 36, and now with Cartagena in Spain, remembers: ‘Before the game, Arsene Wenger told us about how dangerous Rooney was.’
Wenger, as they say, knew. Afterwards he said: ‘Losing our record is a big disappointment, but at least we lost to a special goal from a special talent. He is the biggest English talent I’ve seen since I took over at Highbury.’
There was no BBC Match of the Day then — ITV had won the rights. So it was on their watch when commentator Clive Tyldesley uttered: ‘Remember the name — Wayne Rooney!’
The 16-year-old had invaded the nation’s living rooms. He has been part of the furniture ever since.
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Wayne Rooney may struggle to match last season's goalscoring with Manchester United after a torrid World Cup. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
Darren Fletcher believes he and his Manchester United team-mates must not rely solely upon Wayne Rooney to score goals if they are to recapture the Premier League title this season.
Rooney scored 43 goals in all competitions as United were pipped to the title by Chelsea, but Fletcher says it would be wrong to expect the England striker to repeat that feat – particularly after a torrid World Cup campaign.
"There was a lot of pressure on Wayne to score all the goals last season and he took that burden on," Fletcher said, at a question and answer session with pupils at Irlam Primary School near Manchester.
"But sometimes that does not happen. All strikers go though phases when they do not score goals and that is when it is important that everyone steps up and does their bit.
"As a team we have to improve every season. I think we saw that Nani and [Luis Antonio] Valencia improved last year, and they are young, so they will get better. But even [Paul] Scholes and [Ryan] Giggs are trying to improve, and so am I, and so are the rest of the team."
Fletcher, the Scotland captain, said United will have to improve after a "transition season".
"Maybe last season we went through a period of transition, though you don't realise it at the time," the 26-year-old said.
"We lost some world-class players and other players came in. But we still managed to win the Carling Cup and stay in the league right until the end, while we were very unfortunate in the Champions League. We will learn from the things that went wrong and go one step further next year."
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Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher is looking to use last season's disappointment as motivation this term.
The Red Devils failed to pick up any silverware during the last campaign following their Premier League and Champions League woe.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side missed out on their fourth consecutive title in the top flight by a single point to Chelsea, and were dumped out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals.
But Fletcher says reflecting on United's failings over the summer has provided him the hunger to meet the new season head-on.
"It runs through your head all summer, the disappointments of last year," Fletcher told the club's official website and MUTV.
"Losing out in the Premier League and the Champions League, you think about what you could have done better, moments that maybe cost you, different things like that.
"It can be a long summer. Sometimes you have to try and switch off, and I managed to do that, but there are other times when you think things through in your head, and you've got to be always thinking about how you can improve yourself as well when you come back.
"But the disappointments of last year will drive us on this year.
"Disappointment brings out a little more hunger in you. It's a long summer when you've not achieved what you want to achieve.
"We achieved a little bit of what we wanted last season and hopefully the hunger the lads will have, plus not wanting to experience that again, will help us."
United defender Wes Brown is confident his side can come back stronger from last season's challenging campaign.
"Like we say every year, the Premier League and the Champions League are the ones we really want to win, so we've got to come back better and stronger this season," said Brown.
"We were close last season but it was never really in our hands. We've got to make sure it is this season.
"You do think about your disappointments, especially when the season's finished, but now it's completely new and we've got to put that behind us. We've got some new players and we can start again."
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Darren Fletcher can't wait for United's pre-season preparations to really take off when he boards an aeroplane to America on Monday morning.
Many of the players have spent this week at Carrington undergoing a series of tests after an eight-week summer break. Fletcher’s enjoyed being back at work, but it's the trip to North America he’s most excited about.
The Reds will begin the tour with a training camp in Chicago before playing games in Toronto, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Houston.
“It’s a great tour in America,” Darren told MUTV. “We’ve not been there in a while. And although three weeks is going to be a long time to be away, there’ll be some good games. Personally, playing against Celtic [in Toronto] will be interesting as I’ll be up against a few of my Scottish team-mates. But I'm looking forward to it all really.”
The 26 year-old knows the coaching staff will work the players hard in America, but hopes he’ll also have the chance to explore his surroundings.
“There won't be thousands of fans outside the hotel so maybe the lads will be able to get into the cities and wander about and take in a few sights," Fletcher added. "[Pre-season] is important business in terms of getting fit for the start of the season, but there will be some time for relaxation, which the lads will enjoy.” -
Sir Alex will take a 22-man squad to America on Monday morning as the Reds jet off to begin their pre-season tour.
Experienced campaigners including Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes will be joined by a host of younger squad members with the likes of Corry Evans, Ben Amos and Tom Cleverley included on the trip. New signing Javier Hernandez, who represented Mexico at the World Cup, will link up with his new team-mates in Houston on 27 July.
Captain Gary Neville will stay behind after suffering a calf injury in training. A club spokeswoman told ManUtd.com: "Gary has suffered a minor setback in training with a small tear to his calf muscle. He therefore won’t be going on the tour as it will be more beneficial for him to remain at Carrington to improve his chances of being ready for the start of the season."
From 12-30 July, Sir Alex's men will be visiting cities in America, Canada and Mexico. First stop is Chicago for a training camp, before the Reds' first match on Friday 16 July against Celtic in Toronto. The squad will then head to Philadelphia for a meeting with Philadelphia Union on Wednesday 21 July, before travelling to Kansas City to take on the Kansas City Wizards on 25 July. Next stop is Houston for a match against the MLS All-Stars, before the Reds end their trip with a visit to Guadalajara to take on Hernandez's former club Chivas on 30 July.
Travelling squad: Edwin van der Sar, Tomasz Kuszczak, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov, John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Rafael, Jonny Evans, Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson, Chris Smalling, Nani, Fabio, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez (will join in Houston on 27 July), Mame Biram Diouf, Tom Cleverley, Ritchie De Laet, Corry Evans, Ben Amos, Gabriel Obertan. -
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What's with the f*cking sports bra!?!?!?!?!??!?!
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Darren Fletcher can't wait for United's pre-season preparations to really take off when he boards an aeroplane to America on Monday morning.
Many of the players have spent this week at Carrington undergoing a series of tests after an eight-week summer break. Fletcher’s enjoyed being back at work, but it's the trip to North America he’s most excited about.
The Reds will begin the tour with a training camp in Chicago before playing games in Toronto, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Houston.
“It’s a great tour in America,” Darren told MUTV. “We’ve not been there in a while. And although three weeks is going to be a long time to be away, there’ll be some good games. Personally, playing against Celtic [in Toronto] will be interesting as I’ll be up against a few of my Scottish team-mates. But I'm looking forward to it all really.”
The 26 year-old knows the coaching staff will work the players hard in America, but hopes he’ll also have the chance to explore his surroundings.
“There won't be thousands of fans outside the hotel so maybe the lads will be able to get into the cities and wander about and take in a few sights," Fletcher added. "[Pre-season] is important business in terms of getting fit for the start of the season, but there will be some time for relaxation, which the lads will enjoy.”