It's not often my wife suggests we watch anything related to football but she especially asked to watch this documentary on the Everton, Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney. The all-time top scorer for both United and his country, Rooney, now the manager of struggling Championship side Derby County has simultaneously released both this film and his autobiography but my wife's interest is much less in his glittering football career than in his chequered personal life and of course, in particular his well-publicised marriage to his childhood sweetheart Coleen. She, as I write, is embroiled in a very public court case against her fellow "WAG" (tabloid-press shorthand for "Wives and Girlfriends", the name given to the highly-publicised assorted group of women who accompanied their England international hubbies and boyfriends to a major tournament) Rebekah Vardy, the wife of Rooney's fellow-striker Jamie Vardy, wittily termed the "Wagatha Christie War" and is an important presence in this film which if not quite a warts-and-all portrait of Roo, at least asks both him and her pointed questions about aspects of his personal behaviour, particularly concerning alcohol and prostitutes.
Before all that, we are presented with his back story as a working-class kid who was frequently in trouble even before he became a teenager. The saving of him was his undoubted football talent which saw him quickly signed up by his local team Everton where he broke through to the first team aged only 16 and announce himself in his first match against then champions Arsenal by scoring the stunning winning goal against them after coming on as a substitute. Within a couple more years he was playing for England and had signed for Manchester United in a record transfer deal, sealing his position as a world-class player with a hat-trick in his debut match for United in a Champions League match and then excelling in his first big tournament for England, the 2002 Euros.
Intermittent injuries and erratic behaviour in his personal life arguably blighted his legacy in the game but even though he won several honours with United, such as the Champions League, World Club Championship and several Premier League titles, the pundits' verdict on his career is that he somehow never quite achieved the recognition as a football legend that contemporaries like Ronaldo and Messi did. His indomitable will-to-win is shown in revelations that he deliberately injured Chelsea captain (and fellow England teammate) John Terry, after the Blues had the temerity to rock up under new manager Jose Mourinho to take United's title and hiding a training injury sustained during a major tournament from the England manager Eriksson.
Here, he gets the chance to state his case. He's honest about his past indiscretions both on an off the field, sitting quietly next to his presumably long-suffering wife as she offers something short of forgiveness on her side for the pain he's put her through. Today though, they seem reconciled as they move together into a fantastic luxury house and plays with their young children. He remembers the tough love and support he got from his family growing up, especially from his mother and now deceased grandmother. Naturally there are testimonies from past teammates such as Gary Neville, David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand as well as past rivals like Thierry Henry and his England manager Goran-Eriksson but strangely nothing from his most famous team-mate Ronaldo or his legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Still, the picture emerges of a 100% football man, still involved in the game, and more at peace now with himself. The hope is that he can settle down to enjoy the considerable fruits of his labours and settle down into family life. After watching this admittedly soft-focus take on his life and career to date, I wish him well on his continuing twin journeys inside and outside football.
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