Rooney says he drank to cope with pressure during playing career | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2025
Rooney says he drank to cope with pressure during playing career

Sports

Reuters
06 February, 2022, 01:25 pm
Last modified: 06 February, 2022, 01:28 pm

Related News

  • 'I'm not naive,' Amorim says as Rooney criticises Man United coach's title ambitions
  • Rooney hit hard by 'setback' after Birmingham City sacking
  • Rashford eyes 40 goals in season and Rooney's Man Utd record
  • 'Not going to be easy for him': Rooney warns Messi ahead of MLS debut
  • Rooney on Argentina's chances: 'They are stubborn, hard to beat and almost a working class team'

Rooney says he drank to cope with pressure during playing career

"I had never even thought about the other side of being a football player. I wasn't prepared for that part of life."

Reuters
06 February, 2022, 01:25 pm
Last modified: 06 February, 2022, 01:28 pm
Rooney says he drank to cope with pressure during playing career

Former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney said he was not prepared for the pressure that accompanied his rise to elite level soccer as a teenager and he turned to drink to cope with his problems.

Derby County manager Rooney began his playing career with boyhood club Everton, scoring his first Premier League goal in spectacular fashion as a 16-year-old against Arsenal in 2002.

He then joined United and became one of the country's most iconic players, scoring 253 goals for the Old Trafford team and winning five league titles and the Champions League.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The 36-year-old, who became England's most-capped outfield player with 120 international appearances, said he struggled to deal with fame after growing up on a Liverpool council estate.

"To go from that to having to deal with becoming a Premier League player at 16 and an international player was something I wasn't prepared for," Rooney told the Daily Mail before the launch of an Amazon Prime documentary about his life.

"I had never even thought about the other side of being a football player. I wasn't prepared for that part of life.

"It took a long time for me to get used to that and figure out how to deal with it. It was like being thrown in somewhere where you are just not comfortable. That was tough for me."

Rooney said his problems with drinking continued until his first son Kai was born in 2009.

"There were times you would get a couple of days off from football and I would actually lock myself away and just drink, to try to take all that away from my mind," Rooney said.

"People might know that I liked a drink at times or went out but there was a lot more to it than just that. It was what was going on in my head.

"It was just a build-up of everything... the pressure of playing for your country, for United, some of the stuff which came out in the newspapers about my personal life, just trying to deal with all that pressure which builds up."

Football

Wayne Rooney

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • How tender rules and a lone bidder stall a $2.5b power plant
    How tender rules and a lone bidder stall a $2.5b power plant
  • Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin met USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer at the USTR office in Washington, DC on 10 July 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    35% tariff: Commerce adviser meets US trade representative in Washington
  • This gun was recovered from a college student’s home in Narail on 8 June. While some suspect it to be a sniper rifle, the family claims it’s just an airgun. Police are awaiting court approval for forensic testing. Photo: Collected
    Was it really a sniper rifle? No forensic test one month on, family insists it’s airgun

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • In terms of stream of education, girls maintained their excellence as well. Photo: TBS
    SSC 2025: Girls dominate boys by over 5%
  • Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
    Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
  • Students sit for SSC exam at Motijheel Girls' High School on 10 April 2025. Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS
    SSC exam results out: Here's how you can check online and via SMS
  • The overall pass rate across all boards this year, 68.45%, is significantly lower than last year's. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SSC 2025: Rajshahi board records highest pass rate, Barishal lowest
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    35% tariff: Bangladesh, US 'agree on most issues' as first day of talks ends

Related News

  • 'I'm not naive,' Amorim says as Rooney criticises Man United coach's title ambitions
  • Rooney hit hard by 'setback' after Birmingham City sacking
  • Rashford eyes 40 goals in season and Rooney's Man Utd record
  • 'Not going to be easy for him': Rooney warns Messi ahead of MLS debut
  • Rooney on Argentina's chances: 'They are stubborn, hard to beat and almost a working class team'

Features

Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

14h | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

17h | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

17h | Panorama
Photo: Rajib Dhar/TBS

11 July 2024: Riot vehicles, water cannons hit the streets as police crack down on protesters

10h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

'Hypocrisy' will not continue, Iran tells IAEA

'Hypocrisy' will not continue, Iran tells IAEA

13h | TBS World
OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

12h | TBS World
Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

13h | TBS Today
July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

13h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net