It's party time for Wayne Rooney as he celebrates his 40th birthday on Friday.
The Croxteth-born forward is regarded as one of the best to ever play in the Premier League and for England -- for whom he made 120 appearances, the most of any outfielder.
His tally of 208 Premier League goals is bettered only by Alan Shearer and Harry Kane. He won 12 major honours for Manchester United, including five Premier League titles and a Champions League. Here are some of his most memorable moments from his career.
Derby delight
One of the most memorable goals ever scored in the Manchester derby, Rooney's bicycle kick against Manchester City in 2011 was voted the best goal of the Premier League's first 20 seasons. It also helped the striker win the goal of the season award on the BBC's Match of the Day for a third time. Later, Rooney would state it was "better" than Cristiano Ronaldo's iconic effort in the Champions League against Juventus.
Once a blue...
He joined Everton, the club he supported as a boy, at the age of nine. A Toffees' scout had spotted him playing for Copplehouse Boys' Club on the pitches where Liverpool's Walton and Kirkdale Sunday League was played. He scored 99 goals in his final season at youth level. Rooney rejoined Everton in 2017 -- where we wore the number 10 shirt and played for one more season.
Big Nev chipped
At the age of 10 he was Everton's mascot for the Merseyside derby against Liverpool. He gave a glimpse of his potential by chipping the Toffees' goalkeeper Neville Southall in the warmup.
Irish approach
Rooney was eligible to represent the Republic of Ireland through his grandmother. But he turned down an approach from Ireland at the age of 16 and went on to win 120 caps for England, second only to Peter Shilton's 125. Rooney commented on his decision before a match against Ireland in 2015 -- saying "I am English through and through and I have no issue with trying to beat Ireland."
It's a knockout
Former Manchester United teammate Phil Bardsley knocked out Rooney after an impromptu sparring match in the kitchen went wrong following an afternoon at the pub. A video of Rooney hitting the deck went viral, but he made light of the knockout with an Old Trafford goal celebration a few days later.
No hard feelings
Cristiano Ronaldo was branded public enemy number one for his wink after Rooney was sent off during England's World Cup quarter-final tie with Portugal in 2006. He was shown the red card at 0-0 after a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho, the most memorable moment before England went on to lose the tie on penalties. Rooney, had no hard feelings towards his United teammate, however -- saying: "I spoke to Ronaldo right after the game in the tunnel and no issue whatsoever. I just said good luck for the semifinal."
Locking out Colleen
Evertonian Rooney locked his Liverpool-supporting wife Coleen out of the family home in 2020. "When Liverpool won the Premier League a few years ago I came home, I was at Derby at the time, and Coleen's got Liverpool flags up outside the house. The flag was outside the window, so I told her to get it down.... she went up and I locked her out."
He laughed that he took the action after Coleen put the flags up to celebrate Liverpool's title win, leaving her on a "little balcony for not too long".
Goodison no-show
Speaking on The Wayne Rooney show, the forward explained his father Thomas refused to watch him on his first return to Goodison Park as a Manchester United player in 2005 -- an FA Cup clash in February. "He knew I'd be getting a getting a lot of stick and he'd go to all the Everton games and he wouldn't go to that one, at Goodison," Rooney said.
In the soup
Wife Coleen got her own back on Rooney by snitching on him during her 2024 appearance on ITV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Coleen revealed Rooney had washed his hands at a World Cup party hosted by the Beckhams in cold soup thinking it was a finger bowl.
Lifesaver
Rooney has said Coleen helped save his life by managing his problems with alcohol during his playing career. "I honestly believe if she weren't there I'd be dead," he told the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast last month. "That was a moment in my life where I was struggling massively with alcohol. Massively struggling and I didn't think I could turn to anyone."