Product Description

Wayne Rooney, the most talked about footballer in Britain, tells his own remarkable story, from his early years with his family growing up on the streets of Croxteth, about his relationship with Coleen McLoughlin, and about life in Manchester. It's all about a young man coming to terms with a career in the limelight -- the good and the bad. What is the true story behind the most gifted yet often misunderstood character in the British game? Were there signs of things to come in his upbringing in the backstreets of Liverpool? What were the early influences that shaped his character? And how has the meteoric rise to fame and fortune affected this seemingly shy yet prodigiously gifted youngster? For the first time, Rooney opens up about the defining years of his life as the son of a working-class family, brought up in a council house with his Everton-mad family. There followed his first tentative steps in football, the triumphs and knockbacks along the way, the accolades that began to follow his every move as a young teenager, and destiny fulfilled on his Premiership debut for Everton at the tender age of 16. He describes how his life changed irrevocably when Alex Ferguson and Manchester United came calling in the summer of 2004, his dazzling efforts for England in the European Championships, a private life never far from the tabloid headlines, and the real story behind his relationship with partner Coleen McLoughlin. He reveals the anguish of the foot injury that threatened his participation in World Cup 2006, and how his determination led to a remarkable recovery in time to play a part in the group stage of the tournament. And he describes how his delight at playing again for his country turned to depair after his controversial sending-off in the quarter-final against Portugal and England's subsequent elimination in the penalty shoot-out. And in this updated paperback edition, he revisits the drama of United's Premiership-winning 2006/07 season and their tumultuous battles with Chelsea and giants AC Milan. This is the story in Rooney's own words. From the streets of Croxteth to the stadiums of Germany and beyond -- a journey of a lifetime squeezed into a mere twenty-one years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133948 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
'He stands head and shoulders above the rest' Daily Telegraph 'Remarkable' Daily Mail '!fascinating..' Closer

From the Inside Flap
At just 20 years of age, Wayne Rooney is already one of the best footballers in the world. What is the true story behind the most talked-about player in Britain?
What memories does he have of his tough Merseyside upbringing? Who were the early influences that helped shape his character? And how has the meteoric rise to fame and fortune affected this seemingly shy yet prodigiously gifted youngster?
Rooney opens up about the defining years of his life as the son of working-class parents, brought up in a council house with a football-mad family and making his Premiership debut for Everton at the age of 16.
He goes on to describe how his life changed irrevocably when Alex Ferguson and Manchester United came calling in the summer of 2004, his dazzling efforts for England in the European Championships, and the truth about his relationship with partner Coleen McLoughlin.
For World Cup 2006 Rooney reports on every aspect of the Finals. From the shock of his broken metarsal and the rush to get fit, through the group matches, to the explosive quarter-final against Portugal, his is an unembellished account of what went on inside the England camp.

From the streets of Croxteth to the stadiums of Germany, it's an incredible journey by an incredible footballer.

About the Author
Wayne Rooney was born in Liverpool in October 1985. He was only nine when he was spotted by Everton scout Bob Pendleton playing for boys' club Copplehouse. In his last season with them he scored 99 goals before joining the Everton academy. He was the youngest scorer in Premier League history in 2002, at the age of 16, and the youngest to score for England, age 17. He joined Manchester United in August 2004 for a fee of GBP20 million. He has 33 international caps and 11 goals to date. Hunter Davies has written over 40 biographies, including the authorized book on The Beatles and the 2004 hardback bestseller Gazza: My Story.

Customer Reviews

Better packaging - still rubbish
At first glance, this looks like a brand new book about Wayne Rooney. In fact, it's simply last year's 'Wayne Rooney: My Story So Far' in paperback, but re-designed completely so that big colour pictures of Wayne appear between every chapter. This makes it look more like a picture-book than a life-story: less David Copperfield and more The Mr Men.

That's fine, as far as it goes - but the written bits are as bad as ever. Compare Steven Gerrard's book (the only one of many which sold well after last summer's World Cup) or either of Gazza's books (co-authored, like Wayne's book, by Hunter Davies). These read like you're sitting having a pint with a player who is telling you all about his life. This book, on the other hand, feels like it's been written by a committee - or perhaps a computer. Unlike Wayne's lively performances on the pitch and his colourful life off it, this is as lifeless as yesterday's leftovers.

So do buy this book if you want to look at colour pictures of Wayne Rooney. You might want to skip the writing.

Well, of course it's dreadful...but let's not blame Wayne
Although I'm not a Man United supporter, I was really looking forward to this. Hunter Davies is one of the best ghostwriters in the business and the publishers had lavished a reported five million quid advance on this book and four follow-ups over the course of Wayne's life. Rooney is still, despite the World Cup, considered by many to be the most talented player in the country and he's had his fair share of off-pitch controversy to boot. There surely had to be SOMETHING interesting to read in here, if only for fifteen minutes?

Well, no. Nothing at all. Save your money.

There are two problems: one is that an autobiography is inevitably always best when looking back on a long and interesting life...or at least career. Hunter's work with Paul Gascoigne is a case in point - painful but fascinating reading. I don't buy the fact that young people should never get involved with autobiographies...it's just much harder to make them interesting.

But that's not the main problem really and in the end it's not entirely Rooney's fault - it's out of his hands. The reason this book is so very bad is that, no doubt pandering to Rooney's totalitarian manager Alex Ferguson and satanic agent Paul Stretford, any attempt to express an opinion, say something fascinating or offer an insight has been totally washed away. Even all that business about being caught in a brothel barely gets a couple of hollow paragraphs, presumaby to spare Colleen further embarrassment. So there's just nothing of the slightest interest left.

There are only two remaining questions (aside from the obvious one about why anybody bought this at all): given that Everton manager David Moyes has issued legal proceedings against Rooney over comments made in the book, how come it's still so very dull? And what on earth are they going to put in the other four?

Who reads this rubbish?
I got up this morning. I didn't have a cup of tea 'cos I don't like tea. Then I went to work and played football. I didn't see the boss because he was in the office.

Not only does Rooney have nothing to say but his writing style makes "The Sun" look like Shakespeare. When he has done something worth writing about he needs to get someone else to write about it for him.