Wayne Rooney has opened up about some of the strangest and most unpleasant away day experiences he and his Manchester United team-mates faced. From freezing cold dressing rooms at Anfield to leaking toilets at Sunderland, the former England captain shared bizarre behind-the-scenes stories on his BBC podcast.
Rooney opens up on crunching away days
Rooney was reflecting on his time as a player and the challenges of preparing for away games in the Premier League. He recalled how conditions in certain dressing rooms were deliberately uncomfortable, making it tough for United to settle before kick-off. Sunderland, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Liverpool were all named as examples of awkward or unpleasant experiences.
AdvertisementAFPRooney reveals why Anfield was a problem
The former striker admitted during a new episode of from the BBC that Anfield was the worst, describing how the freezing conditions made players question if it was a deliberate ploy to gain any edge possible. "You get some tight dressing rooms. Tottenham and Chelsea were always hot. You'd literally get dressed as quick as you can and then stand outside the dressing room. Anfield was always freezing. I don't know whether they manipulate the temperature in there."
Leaking toilets at Sunderland's Stadium of Light
Rooney also shared a grim memory from the Stadium of Light, recalling how the dressing room roof collapsed due to overflowing toilets above.
"I was actually suspended [for the match]. But above the dressing rooms were the toilets and [the roof] came through when all of the players were in their clothes," he recalled. "I think there was a load of whatever goes into the toilet, all over the players and the clothes.”
AFPRooney's return to Goodison Park
Rooney added that the toughest away trip of all was returning to his boyhood club Everton after joining United. "Yeah, [it] was horrible. Obviously it's a ground I've been going to since I was a kid, a baby," he said of his first return in an FA Cup tie in 2005. "My dad, that was the game he wouldn't go to. Because obviously he knew I'd be getting a lot of stick and he'd go to all the Everton games and he wouldn't go to that one, at Goodison."
