Wayne Rooney accidentally wore pyjamas to watch son Kai's first Old Trafford match

Wayne Rooney turned up to watch his son Kai play for Manchester United’s under-18s at Old Trafford wearing pyjamas — having convinced himself he had picked out an oversized tracksuit. The former England captain only discovered the error when he returned home and wife Coleen inspected the label.

Rooney recounted the episode on his BBC podcast earlier this year. “So I was at home, and I went into my wardrobe and I picked a tracksuit out,” he explained. “I thought it was one of them oversized tracksuits what the younger lads are wearing nowadays. So I tried it on and I thought it was actually quite comfortable, so I kept it on and put a big coat over it and gone to the game.”

He added: “Obviously, if it was a first-team game, I’d be dressed a bit smarter but because it was a kids game, I put it on and went to the game. And then it was only when I got home, Coleen asked to look at the label on it, and it was actually a pair of pyjamas. So I went to watch my son’s first game at Old Trafford in a pair of pyjamas, mistakenly.”

The story first surfaced publicly through Kelly Somers, Rooney’s co-host on his BBC podcast. When asked by The Telegraph which WhatsApp group she valued most, Somers pointed to the podcast’s group chat without hesitation. “A lot of it is logistics but you also don’t know what is going to come next,” she said, before sharing the pyjama anecdote.

Kai Rooney, 16, has had a notable season in Manchester United’s academy, featuring for the under-18 side as they reached the FA Youth Cup final. The timing of the incident — his first appearance at Old Trafford — makes the story all the more memorable.

The episode adds to a growing picture of Rooney’s more relaxed public persona since retiring from professional football in 2021. Now a regular BBC pundit, the former United and England striker has used his podcast platform to offer candid glimpses behind the curtain — even when those glimpses involve inadvertent nightwear.

The revelation may not have gone down well with Kai. Coleen Rooney previously disclosed, during her appearance on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2024, that her son had asked his father to stop attending his matches in person.