Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Rooney appointed Derby County manager

Rooney appointed Derby County manager

Championship side Derby County have appointed England's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney as their new manager on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

The 35-year-old, who had been in interim charge since Phillip Cocu was sacked on 14 November, has now also officially retired as a player.

Rooney has overseen nine games so far, winning three and drawing four.

"The opportunity to follow Brian Clough, Jim Smith, Frank Lampard and Phillip Cocu is an honour," he said.

"I knew instinctively Derby County was the place for me."

Liam Rosenior takes up the role of assistant manager, with former England boss Steve McClaren continuing as technical director and advisor to the board of directors.

Shay Given will become first-team coach and Justin Walker will remain as first-team development coach.

The Rams are third from bottom in the Championship, level on points with fourth-from-bottom Sheffield Wednesday.

A takeover for the club is expected to go through this week, with a deal between current owner Mel Morris and the Deventio Holdings Group having been agreed in November.

Rams chief executive Stephen Pearce said in an interview with BBC Radio Derby on Thursday that their were no problems with the takeover, despite the delays meaning players have not been paid their December wages.

"Our recent upturn in results under Wayne was married together with some positive performances, notably the 2-0 home win over Swansea City and the 4-0 victory at Birmingham City," said Pearce.

"During that nine-game run we also dramatically improved their defensive record and registered five clean sheets in the process, while in the attacking third we became more effective and ruthless too.

"Those foundations have provided a platform for the club to build on in the second half of the season."

An England legend retires



Rooney netted 53 times for England, making 120 international appearances between 2003 and 2018

Rooney made his professional debut for boyhood club Everton in August 2002 aged just 16 and became the Premier League's youngest scorer with a superb long-range goal against Arsenal before his 17th birthday.

After a strong Euro 2004 he moved to Manchester United for £27m, then a world record fee for a teenager.

During 13 years with United he won the Premier League five times, the Champions League, the FA Cup and three League Cups.

His time with England was less successful in terms of team honours, although he did break Sir Bobby Charlton's long-standing record of 49 goals before retiring from international football in August 2017.

He made a farewell appearance for the Three Lions against the United States in a friendly in November 2018 to finish with 53 goals in 120 appearances.

After a second stint at Everton and a spell with American side DC United, Rooney joined Derby in January 2020 as a player-coach on an initial 18-month contract.

He retires as the second-highest goalscorer in Premier League history, with 208 goals.

Analysis


Ed Dawes, BBC Radio Derby's Rams commentator

Wayne Rooney's presence at Derby County was felt on that hot August evening in 2019 when Phillip Cocu won his first match as manager at Huddersfield, a result overshadowed by the announcement of his signing.

Rooney's ambition to become a manager was there for all to see when chairman Mel Morris afforded him the opportunity to be a player-coach on arrival in January. He in fact arrived a few months before that but was unable to play, and stayed low key, observing from the sidelines.

A year ago this month he made an instant impact to Derby's fortunes on the field. Players who were underachieving and perhaps found the grind of the Championship a little hard to handle, were taken up a notch by his presence.

Some would say Rooney saved the Rams' season, but this term he struggled on the field and so did Derby.

I am told it was written into his contract that he would have a chance to take control one day and he has already shown in his nine games in interim charge that he can get the squad playing in his image. Gone is the side-to-side, slow build-up possession game, it is a better product to watch.

The people around him have good pedigree in the game. Shay Given, Liam Rosenior, Justin Walker and Jason Pearcey have experience at all levels - but his relationship with Steve McClaren will be the most important of all.

Derby fans have been calling out for a positive piece of news. Rooney's appointment is the first duck in a row with the takeover expected to be completed any time now and then Championship survival is the hope.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×