Wayne Rooney admits he wore pyjamas to watch son Kai play at Old Trafford

Wayne Rooney unwittingly turned up to Old Trafford in pyjamas to watch his son Kai play for Manchester United’s under-18s, the former England captain has admitted — and it was his wife Coleen who eventually spotted the error.

Rooney, who retired from playing in 2021, recounted the story on his BBC podcast after first messaging the detail to co-host Kelly Somers via their WhatsApp group. Somers, speaking to The Telegraph, described the exchange as one of her favourite moments from the group chat. “Wayne was at Old Trafford once to watch his son play and he put in the group that he thought he had been wearing a tracksuit, but then realised he had worn pyjamas,” she said.

Rooney filled in the full details himself on a January episode of the podcast. “I went into my wardrobe and I picked a tracksuit out. I thought it was one of them oversized tracksuits what the younger lads are wearing nowadays,” he explained. “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 that the occasion — Kai’s first match at Old Trafford — did not feel like one that demanded smarter dress. “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.”

Kai Rooney, 16, has had a notable season in United’s academy, featuring for the under-18 side during their run to the FA Youth Cup final, where they finished as runners-up. The teenager is working to establish his own career at the club where his father became a legend, scoring 253 goals across 559 appearances.

The pyjama admission is the latest glimpse of a more relaxed side to Rooney since his retirement. The story also follows a disclosure from Coleen Rooney — made during her appearance on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2024 — that Kai had previously asked his father to stop attending matches in person.