Wayne Rooney reveals the mental toll of watching son Kai play at Manchester United

Wayne Rooney has admitted that watching his son Kai play football comes with a unique burden, revealing he must mentally steel himself before attending matches to deal with the attention he attracts from supporters.

Kai Rooney, 16, is the eldest of Wayne and Coleen’s four sons and has made rapid progress through Manchester United’s academy this season. He signed a scholarship at Old Trafford this summer — one of eight prospects to do so, alongside United manager Michael Carrick’s son Jacey — and has since made his Premier League 2 debut for the club’s U21 side, scored for the U18s, and appeared in the UEFA Youth League for the U19s.

Despite the family’s pride in Kai’s development, the attention that follows his father to matches has long been a source of friction. Coleen Rooney revealed in 2024, during her appearance on I’m a Celebrity…, that Kai had asked Wayne to stop coming to his grassroots games altogether.

“Kai told Wayne to stop coming to football games, when he played grassroots tournaments and stuff because he used to get swarmed and he couldn’t even watch the game,” Coleen explained. “He just said, ‘Oh, Dad, there’s no point you coming because you don’t even watch me play anyway,’ which is sad but it can’t be helped.”

Wayne, Manchester United’s record goalscorer and formerly England’s all-time leading scorer, acknowledged the difficulty in an interview with the Guardian. “When the kids go to football tournaments and there are going to be lots of parents there, I know I’m going to be ambushed,” he said. “So I have to be ready mentally to take pictures with people, and do it with a smile on my face when all you want to do really is watch your kid play.”

Rooney added that he makes a point of obliging fans regardless, drawing on his own childhood experience. “No, I do pictures because I remember when I was a kid being a fan and going for autographs.”

Despite Kai’s earlier request, Wayne did attend his son’s FA Youth Cup debut at Old Trafford earlier this year. The family have also featured in the docuseries The Real Rooneys, in which Wayne spoke about Kai’s ambitions at his former club. “Kai wants his own legacy, and I’ll be there to support him,” he said.