Wayne Rooney wants to join non-league side that went viral over the weekend

Martin Macdonald

• 11 Nov 2025 07:01 CST
• 3 min read

Nieuws

Wayne Rooney is reportedly keen to join a non-league side who went viral this past weekend.

Wythenshawe Vets are based around Cheshire where a number of ex-footballers live and a number of them have turned out for the club recently.

Their 2025/26 squad includes George Boyd, Papiss Cisse, Danny Drinkwater, Maynor Figueroa, Stephen Ireland, Jefferson Montero, Emile Heskey, Joleon Lescott, Oumar Niasse and Nedum Onuoha.

However, those names pale in comparison to the box office of Rooney, who is considered one of the greatest players of the 21st century.

The Englishman signed for Man Utd in 2004 at the age of just 18 after emerging as a generational talent at Everton.

He would go on to become the Red Devils' greatest ever goalscorer as well as England's top scorer, though the latter record has since been taken by Harry Kane.

While at Man Utd, Rooney won five Premier League titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups, one Champions League, one Europa League and one Club World Cup title.

He rejoined Everton in 2017 before short periods at D.C. United and Derby County and after retirement he became a manager then a pundit.

Rooney has performed in charity matches such as SoccerAid, but the Daily Mail reports he could return to competitive action with Wythenshawe Vets.

Stephen Ireland, previously of Manchester City and Stoke, says numerous ex-players have reached out to ask for a game:

"My phone hasn't stopped! I've got people going, 'how do I get involved, how do I sign up?' I just want to be wary of not bringing too many people, because I want it to be a mix of the proper old vets with maybe four or five pros each time. But it is great fun, even as an incentive during the week to prepare for it. That's what it's like now."

Papiss Cisse comedy

In a recent match, Wythenshawe Vets went viral after Papiss Cisse missed a penalty, then missed the rebound then hit the resulting corner-kick straight into he side-netting.

He was laughing to himself at the misfortune and the clip subsequently went viral on social media.

What many viewers didn't see, however, was that the former Newcastle striker went on to score six second-half goals as Wythenshawe Vets won 13-0.

Ex Newcastle striker Papiss Cissé scored 7 goals in 1 half of football for Wythenshaw vets FC😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/dQKuRJXRtr

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) November 10, 2025

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