Wayne Rooney on alcohol struggles: Without Coleen, I’d be dead

“[I was] massively struggling and I didn’t think I could turn to anyone. I didn’t really want to because I didn’t want to put that burden on anyone. I remember going into training and putting eyes drops in, chewing gum. I just drank for two days straight. Come training and at the weekend I’d scored two goals, and then I’d go back and drink for two days straight again.”

Asked by Ferdinand who helped him deal with his drinking problems, Rooney credited Coleen for rescuing him.

“Coleen’s [help was] massive,” he said. “I believe if she weren’t there, I’d be dead. And it was annoying at times and I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ And you get annoyed and everything she’s doing is to keep me here.

“I’ve made mistakes in the past which are well documented and whatever, but I’m a little bit different at times and she keeps me on that path and she’s done it for 20-odd years.

”We’re two kids from Croxteth and then we grew up together and obviously we started dating and we got married and had kids. But when I was 17 she could see, she knew my mind and she knew I was a bit out there. She’s seen it very early on and she’s helped me control that massively.”

Rooney revealed to The Sunday Times in 2022 that he had used therapists to help him deal with his binge-drinking. He retired from playing football in 2021 and moved into football management. He left Plymouth Argyle last year and now works as a pundit on BBC’s Match of the Day.

He also spoke of his insecurity over his appearance and how being mocked by TV host Jonathan Ross still hurts to this day.

“I’m actually very insecure on quite a lot of things and I have been my whole career over my weight, being insecure now over how you look. Only Coleen knows this. If you ever see me on the beach next week, I’ve got my T-shirt on, I’ve got a cap on.

“There was one thing which happened years ago. Jonathan Ross put a picture of me, Mum and Dad coming out of the sea [in 2003]. I still think about that because I think, you know what, whatever you want to say about me, say it, but why would you attack my parents?”

Rooney also addressed his struggles in the dugout after stints at Derby County, DC United, Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle, none of which lasted more than two seasons.

“I think I took very difficult jobs,” he said. “I was at Derby and I went in as manager and then they went into administration. Then I went out to the US and managed DC United, which people actually talk about as if it was a big failure. They finished bottom the three seasons before I went in, and then we missed out on the play-offs by a point. When I left, they went back to the bottom.

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“Then I went to Birmingham, which was an absolute car crash from day one. I remember I walked out for my first game at home and there was a Birmingham fan behind me, ‘Get back to America, you fat c***.’ Give me a chance. It weren’t a good fit.

“Then I went to Plymouth and some of the football we played was unbelievable. But that level of consistency [that you need in the Championship], we didn’t have that. Training sessions were really good — and then I was shocked in some of the games.”

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