Why We Should All Marvel At Rooney’s Achievements

It seems maybe a little strange, after Armistice Day on Sunday gone, that there should be such debate about whether Wayne Rooney is deserving of the tribute being afforded to him by the FA, who have decided that England’s friendly match this week is a fitting occasion for a proper send off for a player who has given 13 years and scored a record number of goals for his country.

Before anyone climbs onto their high horse, I’m not comparing his achievements to the sacrifices of war for one second; merely pointing out that when someone does something special on behalf of their country, there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving it some special recognition.

But the FA, with this idea, are damned either way. They’ll be accused of ignoring the achievement by some if they do nothing, and of ignoring other equally-deserving players of yesteryear when they do.

For instance, some will ask ‘what about Bobby Charlton or Bobby Moore?’ The FA movers and shakers in place now can’t be held accountable for decisions taken – or not taken – back in their day, any more than their predecessors be blamed for not tweeting about it in the early seventies.

Any number of wrongs cannot make a right. Blame the English stiff upper lip if you have to blame anyone; but don’t blame the FA or Wayne Rooney for trying to do the right thing in the current climate. What would people rather they do? Have a whip-round and get him a ‘sorry you’re leaving gift’ like the Premier League are doing for Richard Scudamore?

Although of course, in the social media age, someone is always going to be wrong in someone else’s eyes.

I’ve no doubt some of the negativity is because of who it is, rather than why they are doing it. The player himself has always been divisive. For a start he played for Everton and Manchester United for the entirety of his career in England, so he’s never going to win a place in the hearts of Liverpool or Manchester City fans.

Then there was his rant at fans during England’s wretched World Cup campaign, an unfortunate and ill-timed incident that did little for his public image but probably said more about his frustrations for a poor personal display on such a big stage.

His private life has also filled tabloids at times; it can’t be denied. Some of his well-documented poor life choices have haunted him but he lives in a world where the scrutiny has never been greater. His every move, meal or mistake is in the media spotlight.

All those without sin can cast the first stones. The rest of us can be thankful we don’t live in the goldfish bowl of today’s football.

Of course, that’s not to say that the global footballing superstars haven’t always courted attention. Another Manchester United legend, George Best, had a ‘private’ life that strayed into territory that some would frown upon, yet it was somehow more acceptable in those days when everyone’s opinion hadn’t got the possibility of ‘going viral’.

But so what if Rooney is a little closer in lifestyle to a Best than a Charlton? Best once said:

‘If I had to choose between dribbling past 5 players and scoring from 40 yards at Anfield or shagging Miss World, it’d be a hard choice. Thankfully, I’ve done both’.

Rooney has never been quite so flamboyant. He’d probably be content with a goal from just ten yards – as long as it was at Anfield.

But sporting (or any) prowess doesn’t have to go hand in hand with a perfect lifestyle anyway. We can’t demand that great players automatically become great role models too. For the record, Rooney comes across to me as a decent bloke who’s made the odd mistake in his life, but how many of us aren’t like that?

If accolades are only for those who’ve never made one, a lot of music and movie stars, not to mention other sporting greats, need to hand theirs back as soon as possible.

Rooney says that one of the benefits of his life in Washington is that he can go for a coffee or to the shops without being recognised. He’s probably earned a bit of anonymity at this stage of his life, just as he’s earned a decent ‘good-bye’ for his England exploits.

I’m not sure why those with a problem with it, have a problem with it. The players think it’s right, the manager wouldn’t have sanctioned it if he wasn’t, the fans will see more now than a meaningless friendly, charities will get sizable and much-needed donations and the FA can sit back and say we did what we had to do.

Because love him or hate him, a 119-caps and [a record] 53 goals is a special achievement in anyone’s book. His football career – including all the scrapes – has been like one that could have come straight from a comic book. A real-life Roy of the Rovers.

Rooney himself calls the upcoming match a ‘huge honour’ and is just delighted to get the chance as he puts it ‘to see the players, staff and thank the fans for the support they’ve shown me over my time playing for England’. He seemed happier than that children’s charities would benefit from the ‘Wayne Rooney Foundation International’.

Hardly the image of greed and self-congratulation that some have accused this of amounting to. He’s not number 10 (although I don’t see why not), he’s not going to even start the match or be captain as some initially said he was. He’ll come on as a sub, get a run around and, I suspect, be taken off before the full-time whistle to enjoy a standing ovation for what he has given to the English National Team.

There’s no harm at all in that. People have said it devalues the shirt and that it’s giving a cap away willy-nilly. But that’s a load of bollocks; mostly from people who’d never get near that number of caps.

Honouring a player who has made well over a century of appearances devalues nothing, and giving a cap way easily is bringing a debutant on for thirty seconds at the end of a friendly; not giving someone with 119 of them already, one more by way of a thank you.

I remember first hearing about him as a young player for Everton who had destroyed Aston Villa in the FA Youth Cup final and I curiously sought out some footage as he scored and revealed his once a blue shirt that he never quite lived down. He seemed ‘big for his age’ then and soon muscled his way into the Toffee’s first team squad and then the team while still some way short of his seventeenth birthday.

Helping to end Arsenal’s 30-match unbeaten run really announced him to the world as he blasted past David Seaman from long range, to become the then youngest scorer in the Premier League.

He’ll also be remembered for his debut hat-trick at Old Trafford for Manchester United (after they paid a record £26.5m for a teenager), that volley versus Newcastle plus an overhead shin into the top corner in the Manchester derby, not to mention three Champions League finals (one won) and a World Cup Championship as well as numerous Premier Leagues, FA and League Cups.

Amongst the highs were lows too, including red cards for elbows, wild tackles and sarcastic clapping and the odd broken metatarsal.

One of the latter in particular, in Lisbon 2004, surely robbed England of a real shot at European Championship glory, after his four goals in the tournament had taken England to the quarter-finals. I had the pleasure of seeing him in that and can still recall him running in on the French goal with the defenders looking as if they were in slow-motion behind him.

It’s the lack of a repeat in future World Cups and Euros that ultimately will prevent him being held in the same esteem as Moore, Charlton and Hurst. A lack of goals and some debilitating injuries at key times meant he never quite carried his club or qualifier (my personal favourite: against Turkey at the Stadium of Light) form into a major competition.

Back on the club stage, after a glory-strewn 13 years at Old Trafford, a nostalgic (and top-scoring) return to Everton for a season was followed by a move to the USA (fittingly the opponents for England this week) to join DC United in the MLS. It’s probably his stint so far here that says as much about him as any other. Far from a gentle jog into semi-retirement, he joined a bottom of the league outfit and his goals, assists and captaincy propelled them up to the play-offs.

Anyone who saw his last-seconds-of-injury-time tackle on the half way line to stop a certain goal (the DC net was empty) then hit a 50-yard cross for his team’s winner will have seen everything (quality, desire, never-quit attitude and will to win) that we’ve come to know about Wayne Rooney in his career. Those that haven’t should Google it.

Although not always appreciated quite as much as he could have been, the supporters of the clubs who had him loved him, and those that didn’t disliked him (but secretly wished their club had signed him).

So, all the best Wayne, and thanks for everything. I, for one, won’t begrudge you a second of your send-off at Wembley. You deserve nothing less.

Like Stan Lee, another man with a comic book life if not the DC connection – and also given a fitting tribute after his death, aged 95, this week – you have been nothing short of a true marvel.

words Darren Young, D3D4 columnist and author