Ex-Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney was just 13 years old when he was hit at a concert in the middle of Manchester, with the blow “snapping” his jaw
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Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney got his jaw “snapped” after being hit by someone at a concert when he was just 13 years old.
The former England captain revealed the incident in Amazon’s new documentary about his life and career, which is released on Friday.
“I was around 16, and I think that’s an important time in your life because that’s when, if you want to go into football, you have to make a decision,” said Rooney.
“Lads are out drinking, and you’re under pressure, the lads want you to stay out, but you go home and you focus on your training, and it is difficult.
“I wasn’t the nicest kid at that age, and there were things I did which were wrong.
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Prime Video)
“I had a lot of fights, street fights. I wouldn’t say I was a bully, but there were things I did which I shouldn’t have done, and I crossed the line.
“I don’t know if there was an anger or an enjoyment in it. Obviously sometimes you get hit and it’s not nice, but I used to get some sort of enjoyment out of it.”
Rooney decided to throw his energy into football, going on to break into Everton’s first team aged 16 before joining United two years later.
He went on to win five Premier League titles, four League Cups, the Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup and Club World Cup during a glittering Old Trafford career.
Rooney also became United’s and England’s all-time leading scorer, as well as win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award in 2009-10.
On the incident at the concert, Rooney added: “I remember growing up I used to go to a lot of concerts, and normally there was a lot of fighting at the end of it.
“We’d be in the mosh pit, and there’s probably about 15 of us, all Scousers, and we could be in the middle of Manchester, and always ended up being a fight between some of them.
“I remember I got my jaw snapped in Manchester, I was about 13.
“Some guy grabbed hold of me, hit me, and went to hit me again and I ducked, threw a big haymaker at him, caught him and ran off.
“We used to go to the concerts knowing there’d be a chance we’d be fighting.
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“We used to go to Southport as well, and I used to come back with my eye all stitched up. My Mum wasn’t happy. I was probably about 12.”
Rooney grew up in Croxteth, a suburb of Liverpool, as a boyhood Everton fan.
On his upbringing, he added: “You get taught you have to fight to survive, and I don’t mean physically, but you get taught that you have to work harder than everyone else.
“We’re not going to get any favours from the government or people in power, so you have to make your own way of living.”
Rooney is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video from Friday 11th February
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