Rooney Departs : 13 Years Of Glory


One of England's greatest strikers of all-time, Wayne Rooney ended his 13-year career at Manchester United when he returned to his boyhood club, Everton FC on a two-year deal on Sunday.

Rooney, who had a remarkable spell with the Old Trafford-based outfit, leaves the most decorated English club having made 559 appearances and scored a record 253 goals with 16 major trophies. Born in Liverpool, the home of Everton, Rooney had to force his move to United after impressing for the Toffees during the 2003/04 season - scoring nine goals in 34 Premier League games as an 18-year-old striker.

The teenager then made a transfer request in August, 2004 and he ended up joining United after a £25,6 million deal was reached which was the highest fee ever paid for a player under 20 and he was issued number 8 shirt. The immensely talented forward hit the ground running - grabbing a hat-trick and an assist during his United debut as they thumped Turkish giants Fenerbahce 6-2 in the UEFA Champions League match in September, 2004. Such an impressive performance made Rooney the youngest player to grab a hat-trick in the Champions League at the age of 18 years, 335 days and he went on to win the PFA Young Player of the Year award in his first season with United. Rooney collected his first Premier League title winner's medal at the end of the 2006/07 campaign having netted 14 goals 35 appearances. Prior to that he had won the 2005/06 English Cup which was his first major trophy with Red Devils.

Just before the 2007/08 season, he was given the number 10 shirt and he went on to score four goals in 11 Champions League matches - helping United clinch the European title in the process. Rooney also scored four goals as the Red Devils reached the 2008/09 Champions League final where they lost 2-0 to Spanish giants FC Barcelona and in August, 2009 he became the 20th United player to score 100 goals for the club. On February 2011, the Croxteth-born player scored a memorable overhead bicycle kick in the 2-1 victory over United's city rivals Manchester City. Rooney said it was the best goal of his career.

Having played an instrumental role as United clinched five Premier League titles between 2006 and 2013, Rooney was named club captain, replacing Nemanja Vidic prior to the 2014/15 season. During that campaign, he became the third highest Premier League top goalscorer of all-time moving ahead of legendary French striker Thierry Henry with 176 goals after scoring once in a 2-1 win over West Ham United. He broke two records during the 2016/17 season - engraving himself in United's history books. On 24 November 2016, Rooney became United's all-time leading goalscorer in European competitions with 39 goals after netting against Dutch side Feyernoord in the Europa League.

Two months later, Rooney, who continued his scoring ways for the Red Devils, netted against Stoke City in a Premier League and he became the outright leading goalscorer for United after scoring his 250th goal for the club. On 29 January 2017, Rooney was presented with a commemorative Golden Boot to acknowledge him becoming United's all-time leading goalscorer. The accolade was presented by Bobby Charlton whose record Rooney broke. His final season with United was a successful one as he helped the Red Devils clinch the 2016/17 FA Cup and Europa League and leaves the club as one of the club's greatest players of all-time.
Rooney stats at Manchester United
27 - The highest tally of goals scored by Rooney in a single Premier League campaign (2011/12) .
12 - Number of major trophies Rooney won with United  (five Premier League titles, three League Cups, one FA Cup, one Uefa Champions League title, one Europa League win and one Fifa Club World Cup).
8 - Number of hat-tricks Rooney scored for United.

Published: 07/11/2017