WAG WHO WON ME OVER
Yes, she’s brash and blingy — but as Coleen Rooney’s husband quits England, an admiring fellow Scouser explains why she was the ...
So farewell, Coleen rooney, Queen of the england waGs — your husband has hung up his international boots.
wayne rooney’s retirement from the england squad — after 119 games and 53 goals — has, somewhat predictably, unleashed a torrent of online abuse, with fans dismissing him as an overrated player who had been past his prime for years.
Typically, it didn’t take long for Coleen to ride to his defence, tweeting with cheeky defiance: ‘My husband & our Dad has scored more goals for england than any other england player eVer!!!! So there . . .’
Good for her. for amid the flurry of expert analysis on his brilliant career, surely his devoted wife sums it up best of all. for it’s all about the goals — and such success on the field can even make a critical world forget own goals in a player’s private life.
But could he have done it without Coleen? of course not. our wayne was doubly lucky. He developed his skills on the tough streets of Croxteth — and it was there he met the equally tough girl who was to stand by him through success and sleazy liaisons with prostitutes alike.
They first met aged 12 and she fell for him when he fixed her bicycle. How down to earth. and ‘earthy’ is the right adjective for them. for although Coleen seemed to turn into the uber-waG, blowing vast amounts of money and never letting good taste get in the way of conspicuous consumption, that image was far from the whole story.
To hell with her many detractors. To me, Coleen always represented the best of a certain liverpool spirit: warm-hearted, cheeky, strong, bright — and bloody brave. That’s how they make them in that bracing wind off the Mersey.
Yes, I admit I’m biased. when I was a child I lived just two miles from where Coleen and wayne grew up and no matter how far I have travelled I will always be proud to say I was born in liverpool, with those all-important Irish roots which put family first.
when people sneered at Coleen’s spending and lack of ‘class’ it made me cross. How snobbish. Most people, once they get their hands on money, spend it on things they want. only a saint gives it all away.
If you were a working class teenager handed thousands of pounds by your footballer boyfriend, what would you do? Treat your best mates to shopping trips in New York, that’s what! and so she did. YeS,
there were times when her youthful exuberance backfired. Such as the time she flew into Manchester airport after a spending spree in New York, blissfully unaware she was required to pay tax on her purchases. The result? She was forced to pay close to £3,000 for failing to pay tax on £15,000 worth of goods.
But give the girl a break. She was only 18. and what better way to cope with all the backbiting and envy? Spend, spend, spend! Make no mistake, I am no fan of football culture — a ludicrous, over-paid world where preening macho males squander thousands on Cristal rosé champagne (about £415 a bottle) when in truth they’d probably prefer a pint of lager.
It’s hard for any sensible person to read of the money paid to the likes of rooney without feeling the puritanical revulsion I also feel at the excesses of ‘Sir’ Philip Green.
But footballers have far, far more skill than greedy businessmen or vacuous supermodels who only have to sashay down a catwalk.
like it or not, we are surrounded by sport and celebrity culture and the rooneys are just a small part of a self-indulgent world. who can blame Coleen for taking umpteen holidays a year — 12 in 2015 alone! In her position, you would.
even though their parties — and lavish wedding in Italy — were all but ruined by their aggressive , boozy families, Coleen and wayne always stayed close to their roots.
when people called Coleen, in her Juicy Couture tracksuits, a ‘chav’ the insult was wasted. She didn’t know what it meant. The ugly duckling once snapped in an unflattering coat and ankle socks turned into a swan, albeit one who stayed on the local pond in the slightly scruffy park.
although not blessed with supermodel looks or a skinny figure, she blossomed into everybody’s favourite girl-next-door.
The fact she had the kind of figure we all recognised (with that endearing mum-tum after her third son) made her all the more appealing. Part of the reason littlewoods — no designer houses here — signed her up.
True, you couldn’t imagine her wowing the audience of Strictly like fellow waG abbey Clancy or designing a high-end fashion line like Victoria Beckham. Nor did her TV career — Coleen’s real women only survived a few series — trouble the viewers for long.
But she didn’t set your teeth on edge either. waG or not, I always thought our Coleen the kind of lass I’d share a bottle with, knowing she’d be good for a giggle.
This young woman is without airs or graces. when she opened a store in Southend, essex, she charmed the crowds and walked around the store with a contest winner to help her choose clothes with the vouchers she had won.
But behind the laughter and the love of shopping lies one of the most endearing aspects of Coleen’s
character — her devotion to her late sister Rosie, who was profoundly damaged by the severe brain disorder Rett syndrome.
Coleen went on pilgrimages to Lourdes, once with Rosie and another time with children from her local church.
Indeed, I’m convinced that Coleen’s Catholicism is a far more important key to her personality than any superficial spending sprees. No wonder her gratitude to and continued financial support of the Claire House Children’s Hospice (which treated Rosie) matters so much to her.
So what now? Another baby to join Kai, Klay and Kit — and (whisper it) let’s hope this one might be a Katie, to accompany her mum on shopping trips.
I’d also wish the Rooneys a rest from the hideous online trolls and more time to spend with Everton fans at home. I’ve no doubt Coleen will keep Wayne in line and her sons smart (remember them in their bandbox-neat school uniforms?) and won’t stand any nonsense from any of her men — because Northern mums have a good line in sharp put-downs.
In spite of all the money, Coleen remains a well-grounded lass and I reckon Liverpool can be proud of her. So there . . .-