rooney

Rooney: top England goal scorer is star of new Amazon documentary

  • Wayne Rooney is the star of the newest Amazon original football documentary 
  • The film follows Rooney’s rise to stardom with testimonies from friends and family
  • Unseen footage of his childhood will also feature in the film

Amazon are releasing a new film about Wayne Rooney this week in which he tells of his struggles in coming to terms with the pressures of fame.

The documentary will follow the life both on and off the pitch of the former Manchester United and Everton star. 

At 16, Rooney made his professional debut for his boyhood club Everton, and quickly became a regular goalscorer for the club. At 18 he signed a £20m deal with Manchester United.

He made his senior international debut at the age of 17 where he became the country’s youngest ever goalscorer. 

The film tells the story of how a young boy from an estate in Liverpool transformed to become one of the greatest players of his time. 

The film features the current Derby manager discussing his career and life, with appearances from his family and friends as well as previous teammates and managers of his. 

Widely considered as one of the best players of his time Rooney is the record scorer for both England and Manchester United. 

The documentary looks at all aspects of Rooney’s life, with the former player going into detail about his battles both publicly and privately. 

The ex-England international has recently opened up in interviews about the struggles that he faced during what seemed to be his golden years. 

“There was a period in my career, for a long period in my career, I was suffering inside,” he says. 

“I felt stuck. 

“I felt like I couldn’t go into the training ground and say I’m struggling with this mentally, or I struggling to deal with this on my own.”

Rooney himself acknowledges the advances made in player support and with both ex and current players coming forward in recent times to open up about their experiences and struggles with mental health, this film is sure to open up a wider conversation. 

He says: “Now it’s a lot easier to actually do that, which is good because obviously people are recognising the mental health issue and talking about it and trying to catch it early, especially with some of the young lads who are struggling with that.”

Martin Buckland, Amazon’s head of content Prime Video UK, says of the film, “Rooney is an honest and intimate documentary about one of the country’s most famous sports stars who has faced untold pressure from a very young age.

“Prime members will get to hear from Wayne himself on the events and moments that shaped who he was a player and who he is as a man.”