Wayne Rooney left disappointed after breaking golden Man United rule for son Kai
Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney was left feeling short-changed after ignoring his own son’s advice in an effort to catch Kai in action
Wayne Rooney broke his own rule in an attempt to catch son Kai in action(Image: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Wayne Rooney suffered disappointment watching Manchester United’s FA Youth Cup quarter-final win over Sunderland. That’s despite the fact he broke a ‘golden rule’ set in place with son Kai in order to get a potential peek at him in action.
The Old Trafford icon has supposedly promised his 16-year-old offspring he wouldn’t attend any more of his matches. Not due to any underlying tension or animosity, however, but because Rooney Sr is routinely swamped by fans.
United’s under-18s progressed to the semi-finals of the Youth Cup on Wednesday after beating Sunderland 3-2. Chido Obi, Noah Ajayi and Junior Brown provided the goals in a comeback win over the Black Cats.
However, Rooney will nevertheless have been left disappointed to see son Kai remain an unused substitute for the quarter-final clash. He will have been over the moon to see the next wave of United talent advance as they look to claim the crown for the first time since 2022, however.
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Like any prospect, Kai would likely love to see his iconic dad attend as many matches as possible. However, Wayne’s wife, Coleen, previously revealed their son’s frustrations after seeing his dad’s attention stolen by others whenever he turned up for his matches.
“That’s the thing with kids I think, it’s hard to go on days out,” she said in 2024. “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.
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“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.’ Which is sad, but it can’t be helped anyway.”
Despite not turning out for Darren Fletcher’s side in the quarters, Kai may get another shot in next month’s semi against Crystal Palace. United will take on the Eagles in the hopes of setting up an FA Youth Cup final against either Manchester City or Blackburn.
It’s not that Fletcher’s shy of promoting any especially young talents among his crops of future stars, either. That much is apparent after 15-year-old JJ Gabriel played a prominent starting role in the win over Sunderland.
Rooney Jr. has made six total appearances for United’s under-18 this season. He has scored a single goal (in a 5-0 rout of Middlesbrough back in August) and recorded one assist in that span, while his sole Youth Cup appearance came late in a win over Derby two months ago.
Kai is still aiming to revive the kind of form that once saw him grab 56 goals and 28 assists in a single season for United’s under-12s. However, he has time on his side, to say the least, as he looks to follow his father and forge his own path to success at United.