Wayne Rooney Wrote to Football Idol in Prison Before Going On to Play With Him

Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney has revealed he used to send letters to a former Premier League star who served time in prison.

Rooney, 40, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players to have graced the Premier League, having come through the ranks at boyhood club Everton before going on to become Man United and England’s record goalscorer, although the latter record has since been bettered by Harry Kane.

And despite having written his name into the history books at Old Trafford, Rooney has maintained that he is still an Everton supporter, with the former forward growing up in the North Liverpool suburb of Norris Green, around two and a half miles from Goodison Park, where he would later go on to play for and against Everton at the iconic stadium.

The Toffees supporter first broke into the Everton team as a 16-year-old in 2002 and announced himself to the world when he stunned then-England goalkeeper David Seaman by scoring a long-range strike, helping the Merseyside club to a 2-1 win over Arsenal.

Wayne Rooney in action for Everton in 2002 (Credit:Getty)

A teenage Rooney was never short of confidence and, in a later interview with Toffee TV, revealed that he thought, ‘These are crap’ while training with some of his once Everton idols before they became his teammates at the club.

Duncan Ferguson, Thomas Gravesen, and Kevin Campbell were the standouts in that squad managed by David Moyes during his first spell at the club.

Cult hero Ferguson took Rooney under his wing and even drove him to and from training with the Scouser having since revealed that he wrote to the Scot when the former Rangers man served 44 days in Barlinnie prison for headbutting Raith Rovers defender Jon McStay.

Speaking on the Wayne Rooney show, the 40-year-old explained how, as a 10-year-old, he exchanged letters with Ferguson while he served his sentence.

"I was a young boy who supported Everton, so I used to write to him in jail, and then he'd write back," said Rooney.

Wayne Rooney and Duncan Ferguson in 2017 (Credit:Getty)

"It was just me telling him how much I love him. [He'd say] 'thanks, it means a lot'. Obviously, when you're in jail as well, you take anything."

The pair played together 31 times before Rooney left for United in 2004.

Of course, Rooney’s exit left a sour taste in the mouths of Evertonians before he ultimately returned to his beloved Toffees 13 years later in 2017, with Ferguson influencing the transfer.

The Scot convinced then-manager Ronald Koeman to sign him, with Rooney having repaired his relationship with some Everton fans when playing in Ferguson’s 2015 testimonial.