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Rooney goes over Neville’s head
News has emerged that former Toffee Wayne Rooney once risked the wrath of ex-Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall, after embarrassing the giant glove-man.
When Rooney was just a little boy, he once appeared as a mascot in a Merseyside derby and took part in the traditional routine of helping to warm up the goalkeeper, who was Welsh international Southall - one of the best keepers in the country at the time.
But instead of testing him with shots, the cheeky 11-year-old proceeded to chip Southall time and time again, to the amusement of the other players.
As Dave Watson, the Toffees' captain that day, recalled, the then 39-year-old ‘Big Nev’ was not a happy man.
“The mascot would usually just go out and warm up Big Nev. But Wayne kept chipping him and Nev was getting really p*ssed off about it," he told The Sun.
“The thing with Nev is that he doesn’t really have a polite way of saying things. So it wasn’t a case of ‘Excuse me son, pack that in’ - he just told him to ‘f***ing stop that, you little so and so!’”
And Rooney’s rise to stardom since does not surprise Watson.
“Wayne has always going to make a living from the game but I don’t think anyone could have anticipated how well he would get on and in such a short space of time,” he said.
“The academy is producing plenty of kids and Wayne’s a figurehead for them."
News has emerged that former Toffee Wayne Rooney once risked the wrath of ex-Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall, after embarrassing the giant glove-man.
When Rooney was just a little boy, he once appeared as a mascot in a Merseyside derby and took part in the traditional routine of helping to warm up the goalkeeper, who was Welsh international Southall - one of the best keepers in the country at the time.
But instead of testing him with shots, the cheeky 11-year-old proceeded to chip Southall time and time again, to the amusement of the other players.
As Dave Watson, the Toffees' captain that day, recalled, the then 39-year-old ‘Big Nev’ was not a happy man.
“The mascot would usually just go out and warm up Big Nev. But Wayne kept chipping him and Nev was getting really p*ssed off about it," he told The Sun.
“The thing with Nev is that he doesn’t really have a polite way of saying things. So it wasn’t a case of ‘Excuse me son, pack that in’ - he just told him to ‘f***ing stop that, you little so and so!’”
And Rooney’s rise to stardom since does not surprise Watson.
“Wayne has always going to make a living from the game but I don’t think anyone could have anticipated how well he would get on and in such a short space of time,” he said.
“The academy is producing plenty of kids and Wayne’s a figurehead for them."