Wayne Rooney said he recognised “time doesn’t stop for no man” after ending his illustrious playing career to embark on a new chapter and “write some history” as manager of Derby County.
The record goalscorer of the England national team had been in interim charge of the Championship club since November and has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract to take the role. The 35-year-old said he had come to terms with retiring from playing over the past two months and was excited to fulfil his potential as a manager.
Rooney, who continues to work towards his Uefa A licence, had made no secret of his desire to switch to the dugout and the former Manchester United and Everton forward, who joined Derby on an 18-month contract as a player-coach last January, will take charge of his first game as the permanent manager against Rotherham at Pride Park on Saturday.
“Standing on the touchline during a game or when you put a plan in place, which the players execute, it’s a completely different buzz,” he said. “It’s a new chapter for me. Of course I’ll miss playing but time doesn’t stop for no man. I’ve had my time, it’s time for the younger generation to have theirs and for me to try and guide the young players to be better players.”
Rooney made his professional debut for Everton aged 16 and became the Premier League’s youngest scorer with a superb strike against Arsenal in 2002 before his 17th birthday. Across 13 years at Manchester United he won the Premier League five times, the Champions League, the FA Cup and three League Cups as well as becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer. After rejoining Everton and two years in the US with DC United, Rooney joined Derby, scoring seven goals in 35 appearances.
“The last couple of months have helped break that [retirement] in and it’s given me time to sit down and think about that,” he said. “My future is in management. I’ve had a great career, enjoyed every minute, some ups, some downs, but I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done in my career as a player. Hopefully, I can start to write some history and have a successful managerial career.”
Rooney has received assurances from Mel Morris, the Derby chairman, and Stephen Pearce, the chief executive, that a protracted £60m takeover by Sheikh Khaled, a cousin of the Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour, will be completed. Some senior players and coaching staff are still awaiting December wages. Rooney said he had spoken to the Bin Zayed International group, the prospective new owner. “It’s better to take time and make sure it’s done right and hopefully it will get done as soon as possible,” he said.
He initially took charge as part of a four-man coaching team following the sacking of Phillip Cocu but stepped away from playing and training at the end of November after realising it was “impossible” to juggle both roles as player-coach. Rooney, who will be assisted by Liam Rosenior, has won three and drawn four of his nine matches in sole charge. “To manage the team and then go out on to the pitch to try and perform as a player as well, it was too much,” he said. “Probably the most successful one was Kenny Dalglish in doing that [at Liverpool] but I thought I either play the game or manage.”
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United’s Marcus Rashford tweeted: “To one of the greatest. It was a dream come true to play alongside you. Congrats on the most unbelievable career.” Gary Lineker said England would have won Euro 2004 had Rooney not got injured. Rooney cited captaining United to the FA Cup in 2016 as a career highlight and getting sent off against Portugal at the 2006 World Cup “a big disappointment”.
Rooney’s former United and England teammate Rio Ferdinand said: “Once he’s retired now, people will start appreciating him for who he is and what he was as a player, because I don’t think he gets the respect he deserves. What a player – world class. Whenever we flew anywhere as a team, he used to get mad, mad love – more than he got here.”
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