The Reason Wayne Rooney Was Barred From Watching His Son Play Football

Wayne Rooney isn’t allowed to watch his eldest son, Kai, play football, and it’s for a touching reason
The Man United legend recently made an exception, quietly attending a youth cup final where Kai’s team suffered a narrow defeat
The young forward continues to impress at United’s renowned academy, with many tipping him for a bright future in the game

Wayne Rooney may hold the title of Manchester United’s all-time leading scorer, but when it comes to cheering on his son from the sidelines, he’s taken a back seat.

The move isn’t entirely his own; it stems from a touching request made by his son, Kai, who prefers his dad not to attend his matches.

Wayne Rooney, Kai Rooney, Coleen Rooney, Manchester United, Old Trafford. — Wayne Rooney is banned from watching his son’s games. Photos by JMEnternational and Richard Heathcote.
Source: Getty Images

Why Rooney is banned from watching his son

Although Wayne would love to be on the sidelines cheering him on, his status as a football icon tends to draw too much attention.

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That unintended spotlight, more often than not, shifts the focus away from the game and onto him.

Coleen Rooney, Wayne’s wife and Kai’s mum, revealed in an interview that this dynamic led to a family decision for Wayne to sit out most of Kai’s matches.

“That’s the thing with kids, I think, it’s hard to go on days out,” she shared as quoted by The Mirror.

“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.”

For Wayne, just trying to watch his son play became a challenge, with fans, mostly young ones, constantly crowding him for autographs and photos.

“How do you say to all of these kids, ‘Go away, I’m watching my son?’ Adults, it’s different; you could speak to them, so he [Kai] just said, ‘Oh, dad there’s no point you coming because you don’t even watch me play anyway.’

Rooney breaks the rules as Kai loses final

Recently, however, Wayne couldn’t resist the urge to see his son in action again.

He was spotted in the crowd during the SuperCup NI final, where Manchester United’s Under-16 side faced Southampton.

Sitting beside Coleen, Wayne quietly watched as Kai’s team narrowly lost.

The teenager came close to scoring, hitting the side netting, while other teammates missed opportunities to equalise.

Adding a touch of cheek to the moment, Jude Daniels, who scored the winner for Southampton, celebrated in front of Wayne with a playful take on his iconic “knockout” celebration, as cited by Tribuna.