FA contacts Wayne Rooney over comments in interview

The Football Association has sought observations from Wayne Rooney in relation to comments by the Derby County manager in a recent interview.

United were beaten 3-0 and Chelsea won the Premier League that season.

Wayne Rooney

“We knew if Chelsea won then they had won the league that day,” said 36-year-old Rooney.

“Until my last game for Derby, I always wore the old plastic studs with the metal tip.

“For that game I changed them to big, long metal ones – the maximum length you could have because I wanted to try and hurt someone, try and injure someone.

“I knew they were going to win that game. You could feel they were a better team at the time so I changed my studs.

“The studs were legal but thinking if there’s a challenge there I knew I’d want to go in for it properly, basically. I did actually.

“John Terry left the stadium on crutches. I left a hole in his foot and then I signed my shirt to him after the game… and a few weeks later I sent it to him and asked for my stud back.

“If you look back when they were celebrating, JT’s got his crutches from that tackle.”

In 2002, ex-Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane was banned and fined by the FA after a claim in his autobiography that he deliberately set out to hurt Manchester City midfielder Alf Inge Haaland in a game in April 2001.

Rooney joined United from Everton and, after returning for a second spell at the Goodison Park club, also played for DC United and Derby County before taking over as manager of the Rams in November 2020.

He is also England’s all-time record goalscorer, having found the net 53 times for his country.

Responding to Rooney’s comments, Terry posted a message on social media with a number of laughing emojis and said: “Is this when you left your stud in my foot?” – bbc.com