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A Skinhead Prime Wayne Rooney Contesting A Drop-Ball Against Hull City Is Genuinely Terrifying

A Skinhead Prime Wayne Rooney Contesting A Drop-Ball Against Hull City Is Genuinely Terrifying

Iconic scenes at Old Trafford. Who remembers this?

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

On November 1, 2008, in a Premier League clash between Manchester United and Hull City, a bald Wayne Rooney went up against George Boateng in arguably the greatest, and most violent, drop-ball contest of all time.

Rooney, who was announced as Derby County's new manager in January - his first role in management - was arguably in the prime of his career when this famous scene took place in-front of 3,000 travelling away supporters at Old Trafford.

Hull City had managed to pull two goals back in the second half through Bernard Mendy and Geovani to make it 4-3 and, with United on the back foot, Rooney decided to step in and contest a rare drop-ball situation alongside veteran midfielder Boateng.

Image: Premier League/YouTube
Image: Premier League/YouTube

Moments later and the skinhead Rooney thrashed his right boot at the ball but completely missed, instead taking a clump out of Boateng's leg. Then, in typical Rooney fashion, the United striker threw himself at the ball while taking out poor Andy Dawson.

It really is peak Wayne Rooney.

It's fair to say Rooney, who was 23-years-old when the incident took place, was lucky to get away with just a yellow card from referee Mike Dean after the two quick-fire challenges against Phil Brown's battling Hull side.

George Boateng limped off after the violent swing of the right boot, but after the full-time whistle, he defended Rooney by saying it wasn't just him who was frustrated by United's disappointing performance.

"It wasn't just Rooney, it was the whole team." he said.

"Look at the penalty Rio Ferdinand gave away. Normally, he'd stand up in that situation but because of the way we were playing he was doing a lot of running and getting disappointed."


Manchester United went on to win the game 4-3 thanks to goals from Michael Carrick, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic and that man Rooney.

But it was a couple of kick's from a drop-ball that will be remembered most by fans.

Featured Image Credit: Premier League

Topics:ย Football, Manchester United, Premier League, Hull City, Wayne Rooney