Ex-Manchester United duo Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane have shared a brilliant story from 2004
Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United(Image credit: Getty Images)
Former Manchester United stars Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane have recalled a hilarious exchange between the two players shortly after Rooney joined the club.
Rooney signed for the Red Devils as an 18-year-old in 2004 after bursting onto the Premier League scene with Everton. The £20million deal was a record transfer for a teenager as Rooney joined a star-studded side managed by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Rooney would score a hat-trick on his debut as Fenerbahce were dispatched 6-2 at Old Trafford in the Champions League and it would appear that the England international wasted no time in settling in off the pitch as well.
Talking to the Stick to Football podcast alongside Keane, Rooney reminded his former Old Trafford teammate of a time when he irked the famously prickly midfield general.
Wayne Rooney signed for Manchester United from Everton in 2004 (Image credit: Getty Images)
“He’s watching rugby league [Roy Keane], so I was sat there – it was Newcastle away – and you had to go out the room to get your food. I think it was my second or third game,” Rooney recalled.
“He’s gone out, and I’ve changed it over to the The X Factor – and I hid the remote. So, he’s come back in, fuming. And we are sat there, and the next thing I know he’s got up and pulled the plug out of the TV. I don’t even know if he knows, but about midnight, the club security knocked at my door, and asked for the remote. And I said, I’ve no idea where it is!”
Keane was present to tell his side of the story.
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“I like my rugby league and there was a good game on, and I came back, and I knew the lads were up to no good, the usual, very immature these lads,” said the former Republic of Ireland international. “And I was like, “where’s the control” and of course, The X Factor was on. So anyway, I wouldn’t say I stormed off, but I went to bed, and I knew he [Rooney] had done it. But he was new to the club, so I thought, “give him a chance, you don’t want to be too hard on him.
Would you dare hide this man's remote control? (Image credit: Getty Images)
“The next morning, we went down for breakfast, and he comes up to me and goes, ‘Did you find them controls?’ – and I was going to be polite to him but when he said that, I said, ‘go f*ck yourself’. We recovered after that!“
This run-in clearly did not get to Rooney, as he would net twice in the Red Devils 3-1 win at St James' Park as his fast start to life in a Manchester United shirt continued.
Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane were speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include tomes on Leeds United and the England national team.
