Roo: I drank till I nearly passed out as a release
Star on pressures of fame
WAYNE Rooney has opened up about his booze battles as he struggled to cope with being a young superstar.
The former England football captain said that he would “drink almost until I’d pass out”. Rooney, now 38, burst on to the scene with Everton in 2002 aged 16. He won his first England cap at 17 and in 2004 he joined Manchester United. Speaking on ex-Rugby League star Rob Burrow’s new podcast, Rooney said: “The pressure was huge but I don’t think it really hit me until I was about in my early 20s. I’d spend a couple of days at home and would not move out the house, and drink, really, almost until you pass out.
“And I didn’t want to be around people because sometimes you feel embarrassed, sometimes you feel like you’ve let people down.
“And, ultimately, I did not know how else to deal with it, and I chose alcohol to try to help me get through that.”
He added: “Thankfully, now I’m not afraid to speak to people over issues which I may have – it is so important you take their help.”
Rooney has previously spoken about using booze to cope, while brushes with the law include a two-year ban for drink-driving in 2017. In February last year, he said: “People might know I liked a drink at times or went out but there was a lot more to it. It was just a build-up of everything...
“Pressure of playing for your country, for United, some of the stuff which came out in newspapers about my personal life.”
Last weekend his wife Coleen, 37, who stood by him despite his past flings with prostitutes, said: “He’ll drink to blot it all out and to escape. What happens, of course, is the opposite.”
Rooney, recently appointed Birmingham City manager, was the first guest for Rob, 41, who has motor neurone disease.
Together with his wife Lindsey, 40, he has launched Seven on the BBC’s The Total Sport podcast.
Dr Richard Piper, chief executive of Alcohol Change UK, said: “Any one of us can find ourselves drinking too much at different points, seeking early help can be one of the best things we can do.”
GOOD on Wayne Rooney talking publicly about his heavy drinking early in a glittering football career when the star’s honesty will help others.
It won’t have been easy for him to open up about an unhealthy relationship with alcohol.
So we applaud Rooney’s courage and encourage others to talk about problems and look for support rather than fighting lonely, difficult battles with booze.
Overcoming his embarrassment is a tribute to Rooney and wife Coleen who has been at his side from teenage years.