Former Manchester United superstar striker and current Derby manager Wayne Rooney revealed that he had taken to alcoholism in order to cope with stress and the side-effects of fame in a series of candid interviews with the Daily Mail and the Times.
Rooney is someone who has seen it all. From bursting on to the scene as a teen prodigy to becoming involved in a series of high-profile scandals to becoming England’s all-time international goalscorer and Manchester United legend, the forward has had a vibrant career in the sport. One of the greatest players of his generation and among England’s best, he hung up his boots in 2021 and is now the manager of Championship side Derby County.
‘Rooney,’ a documentary about the 36-year-old’s life and career is set to be released on Amazon Prime this Friday. Ahead of that, he sat down for candid chats with Daily Mail and the Times and opened up on a number of interesting anecdotes from his career, including his rise to fame and his battles with alcoholism.
Rooney grew up on a Liverpool council estate and joined Everton at the age of nine. Soon after making his Premier League debut at the age of 16, he played and scored for England at 17.
Manchester United made him the most expensive teenage signing in world football, shelling out 27 million pounds to secure his services at 18. Rooney stated that he had never thought about the other side of being a star football player and that he wasn’t quite ready for it.
Rooney would eventually go on to fulfil the promise he showed as a teenager and became the all-time record goalscorers for Manchester United and England. He was a part of an extremely successful Red Devils side led by Sir Alex Ferguson and even won the Premier League title five times.
Despite that, Rooney’s career was marred by controversies and scandals and the Derby manager accepts that he made plenty of mistakes as a young player.
The Manchester United legend also told how in his early days with the club, until they had his first son Kai, he used to lock himself away in his room.
“There were times you’d get a couple of days off from football and I would actually lock myself away and just drink, to try to take all that away from my mind. People might know that I liked a drink at times or went out but there was a lot more to it than just that. It was what was going on in my head,”
Rooney said, expressing that the pressure built up inside him – the onus of representing the country, a famous club and the pressure from media and fans.
Rooney would return for a second spell at Everton after leaving United in 2017. He would also go on to play for MLS side DC United before joining Derby as a player and then as a manager.
He also spoke about how he wasn’t comfortable about opening up regarding his issues to anyone at Old Trafford but mentions that he has it ‘under control’ now.
The English legend also went on to say that people would feel more empowered now to talk about their mental health. He expressed how it used to be quite an ignored issue back then as nobody could even think about going into the dressing room and talk about how they are feeling.
