Family, memories and childhood – getting to know Wayne Rooney

The Football Interview is a new series in which the biggest names in sport and entertainment join host Kelly Somers for bold and in-depth conversations about the nation’s favourite sport. We’ll explore mindset and motivation, and talk about defining moments, career highs and personal reflections. The Football Interview brings you the person behind the player.

Wayne Rooney will always be regarded as one of England’s best strikers.

Rooney scored 53 goals in 120 appearances for his country and won the Premier League five times with Manchester United, as well as lifting the Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup during a glittering career.

He will be one of the pundits on the BBC’s Match of the Day throughout the season, giving his views on all the latest Premier League action.

WR: Yes, I always remember when I was about 14 – I was doing things you shouldn’t be doing. Colin Harvey was the under-19s manager at the time. He saw me crossing the road with a bag of cider, which of course was wrong. He pulled me in and said: ‘If you keep doing this, you are going to throw everything – your talent, your ability – away. You need to focus yourself because you have the ability to go on and play for not just Everton – but England.’

WR: I couldn’t say one. My mum and dad equally. I see it now when I’m taking my kids to football. My mum didn’t drive and my dad worked, so I used to have to take three buses with my mum at times.

Both my mum and dad had huge roles to play and, as a kid, you probably don’t appreciate it. You take it for granted – the stress, the work they put in. I have two brothers and they had to do it for them as well. It’s only when you have kids you see it and understand the sacrifices they had to make.

WR: If I had to choose one, I’d say the Arsenal FA Cup final in 2005. The performance, how we played against a very good Arsenal team… and then we lost on penalties. I would say that is the one I would change, because it was one we probably deserved to win.

WR: With management, it was something I always wanted to go into. I saw it as a challenge. I always want in life to be challenged and take things head on, but also understood that there’s a chance it might go wrong as well. But I don’t mind taking that risk and challenge.

Some former players might wait for the perfect opportunity. The Derby County one… I was playing there and Phillip Cocu got sacked. We went into administration. It was a really tough start to management but I felt we did a really good job.

At DC United, when we went there, I felt we did a good job even though it doesn’t get portrayed that way. They had finished bottom the three seasons before we went there and we got them to within a point of the play-offs.

The Birmingham one, everything was wrong – the timing of it, the fans didn’t really give me an opportunity, we lost games. It felt right at the time but looking back at it, it wasn’t.

WR: I think I’m quite fair and honest really – that is the only way to be. I say this as a player, a manager, and now as a pundit – it’s the same values. The fans aren’t stupid. If you expect me to sit there and try and sugar-coat things which fans can see, I don’t think I should be doing it.

There are some pundits out there who try and go over the top as well. All I can do is try and be fair with what I’m seeing and give my honest opinion. I am sure some players or managers might get annoyed with that but you have to be honest. Wayne Rooney the player probably wouldn’t like Wayne Rooney the pundit, and I get that.

We used to think ‘why would pundits say that?’ but when you finish playing you realise why pundits say things. I’ve been criticised by many pundits as a player and I was never one to phone them up and complain – it actually drove me a bit more to think, ‘next time you are speaking, you are saying good things’.

WR: I always try to have some time just to sit there and if watching a TV series I just chill with a glass of wine and just switch off from everything.

WR: Yes, he’s doing really well. I was at my cousin’s wedding at the weekend. They were doing the speeches and I had my phone and was watching Kai playing in Croatia. I jumped up – he scored in the last minute – but he was offside!

WR: He plays as a striker, plays off the right. He’s strong, not the tallest, but he will be taller than me.

He understands the game fantastically and he thinks about it. He comes home, cooks for himself, he speaks fluent Spanish, so he is doing everything he can to try to live his dream.

WR: It was The Shawshank Redemption but I think over the last few years I’m going to have to say The Wolf of Wall Street.

WR: It’s no secret that I didn’t even take GCSEs but I think people assume because of that that I’m not educated, which is really wrong.

I made a conscious effort when I was at Everton and Manchester United to educate myself in a lot of different things, such as black history and religion. The reason I did that was because I wanted to hold conversations with my team-mates who are from different backgrounds.