Wayne Rooney was on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline as he made his Old Trafford return with Everton.
The former Manchester United captain was denied by David De Gea on a couple of occasions before leaving the pitch to a standing ovation from the home crowd with ten minutes remaining.
Although there were times during his 13-year stay in Manchester where Rooney’s relationship with some of the club’s supporters was far from perfect, his achievements in a red shirt undoubtedly make him one of the greatest players in their history and, as the reception he received as he walked to the Everton bench highlighted, a popular figure with the vast majority of United fans.
Within the club, he was also well-liked by his teammates and the coaching staff. One little-known story told in There To Be Shot At, the autobiography of United’s former goalkeeping coach, Tony Coton (pointed out by The Guardian’s Daniel Taylor ahead of Sunday’s game) partly explains why.
In 2007, a 21-year-old Rooney had just won his first Premier League title at United. During celebrations, he held a brief discussion with Coton and first-team coach, Mike Phelan. During the conversation, Rooney was surprised to learn that the club’s coaching staff didn’t receive any medals when the team were successful.
At the time, the club rewarded coaching staff with a bonus of a few hundred pounds. Under club secretary Ken Merrett, they opted not to pay the cost of around £1,000 each – pittance when considering United’s revenue streams – so that coaches would have their own medals, much to the disappointment of the likes of Coton.
‘When we told him [Rooney] about Mr Merrett’s medal policy he was outraged,’ Coton explains. ‘He couldn’t believe that a club like Manchester United could be so small‑time when it came to sharing out the spoils.’
Later that summer, as the coaches returned to the club’s training facilities at Carrington for preseason, they each discovered a package on their desks. Inside, the boxes contained a silver replica of the Premier League trophy. A note accompanying each one advised that they were worth £5,000 for insurance purposes. All of this had been arranged by Rooney.
‘We were stunned,’ Coton adds. ‘They are absolutely beautiful pieces of work. But for me, their real value isn’t measured in monetary terms. It is the fact they were commissioned by Wayne that makes them so precious.’
Interestingly, United’s policy of not providing their coaches with medals was changed when Merrett was replaced by Ken Ramsden that same year. Perhaps it was Rooney’s gesture which prompted a rethink.
