Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney was previously not allowed to watch his son Kai play for the Red Devils Under-18s, but that ban appears to have been eased.
Wayne Rooney was previously banned from watching Kai matches (Image: Getty Images)
Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney was allowed to watch his son Kai play again, but saw one of his team-mates steal the spotlight. Rooney Jr. has been a regular for the Red Devils’ Under-18s this season as he looks to follow in his father’s illustrious footsteps.
The 16-year-old was back in action this week, playing in United’s 6-1 win over Derby County. Kai was initially listed on the bench, but was brought on midway through the second half.
And he certainly made an impact by teeing up Noah Ajayi for the game-winning goal. Rooney was spotted watching the game in the crowd with former teammate John O’Shea.
United’s current manager, Michael Carrick, also attended the match, and was joined by his backroom team, Steve Holland and Jonathan Woodgate. Wayne has previously been asked to stay away when playing in low-profile surroundings, but he also attended his debut at Old Trafford earlier this year and is now watching his games again.
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His wife Colleen said in 2024: “I think it’s like that for the kids. It’s hard to be out for days on end. Kai told Wayne to stop coming to the football games because when we were playing in grassroots tournaments and stuff like that, you couldn’t even watch the games because you were always surrounded by crowds.”
“How can you tell all these kids, ‘Come out, I’m watching my son?'” Adults, that’s different, you can tell them. So he (Kai) just said, “Dad, you’re not going to watch me play anyway, so there’s no point in coming.”
“It’s sad, but it can’t be helped anyway. At the same time, the fans help you and get you this far.”
While Rooney would have been thrilled to see his son’s contribution, it was actually Kai’s teammates who stole the headlines. Ajayi scored two goals, while Louis Bradbury and JJ Gabriel had two goals.
JJ Gabriel scores twice against Derby (Image: Getty Images)
Rooney came on from the bench and recorded an assist (Image: Getty Images)
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Rooney has previously spoken out about the current crop of young players at Old Trafford, claiming there is more pressure on them following Cristiano Ronaldo’s return and his son playing in the team.
“There’s a little bit more pressure on them too. When Kai and (Cristiano) Ronaldo came back, Ronaldo’s players and Michael Carrick’s players were all in the same team.
“You go to a game and all of a sudden there’s about 10 times as many people as usual gathered around the pitch watching. They’re coming to watch their three kids play and things like that, so it’s an added pressure. They have to be ready.”
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