Fans wait to greet Wayne Rooney as he arrives in US to lead MLS team

2022-07-14

EXCLUSIVE: A return to Wayne’s World: England soccer legend Rooney arrives at DC United stadium ahead of first match as coach as fans wait in blazing 91F heat to meet star

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show the star striker walking into DC United’s Audi Arena in Washington DC
The soccer star was met by club staff and a fan who waited for two hours in baking 91F heat for his autograph
But he smiled broadly at Adam Slen, 36, who handed Rooney two shirts to sign – one an England away shirt
Slen, a longtime DC United fan, told DailyMail.com he hopes the new arrival will transform the struggling side

Ex-England star Wayne Rooney has arrived for his first match in charge of Major League Soccer’s DC United.

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show the star striker walking into DC United’s Audi Arena in Washington DC, where he was met by club staff and a fan who waited for two hours in baking 91F heat for his autograph.

Rooney, 36, declined to comment on his team’s chances for his first game in charge, against Columbus Crew, but smiled broadly at Adam Slen, 36, who handed him two shirts to sign – one an England away shirt and the other a Manchester United top.

Slen, a longtime DC United fan, told DailyMail.com he hopes Rooney’s arrival will transform the struggling side’s fortunes which included a 7-0 defeat at Philadelphia last weekend.

Ex-England star Wayne Rooney has arrived for his first match in charge of Major League Soccer’s DC United

Rooney was met by club staff and a fan who waited for two hours in baking 91F heat for his autograph

‘I’ve been a fan of his for 10 years. I think it’s a good thing he’s here. We need him to bring in more talent but I think he can make it work’ 36-year-old Adam Slen said

Rooney’s US playing career also saw him embroiled in a string of drunken incidents, including an arrest in December 2018 for public intoxication at Dulles International Airport

Rooney was unveiled as the new DC United boss at the Audi Stadium on Tuesday, two days after he flew into the United States and a month after he resigned from Derby County

The MLS season has less than three months to go with Rooney expected to spend most of the off-season in the UK with his family.

He said: ‘I’ve been a fan of his for 10 years. I think it’s a good thing he’s here. We need him to bring in more talent but I think he can make it work.’

Rooney was unveiled as the new DC United boss at the Audi Stadium on Tuesday, two days after he flew into the United States and a month after he resigned from Derby County.

In a press conference, he described the move as ‘an exciting challenge’ and added: ‘I’ve seen a few articles, certainly back in England, on this [being] possibly a backward step in my managerial career. I really found that a bit disrespectful to this league.

‘Of course, I’m an ambitious person, I want to manage at the top level and this is part of that process, in terms of coming here, trying to develop this club, trying to get success here, but also develop myself as a manager.’

He also confirmed that wife, Coleen, and their four sons will not be making the move to DC but said the WAG, 36, has given him her blessing.

The MLS season has less than three months to go with Rooney expected to spend most of the off-season in the UK with his family.

The MLS season has less than three months to go with Rooney expected to spend most of the off-season in the UK with his family

In February 2019, he was caught getting into a car with barmaid Vicki Rosiek after a 10-hour booze binge in Florida

Rooney’s US playing career also saw him embroiled in a string of drunken incidents, including an arrest in December 2018 for public intoxication at Dulles International Airport. Pictured: A fan today

Rooney, pictured left in a police mugshot, had set off an alarm as he opened a door and then swore at airport police who failed to recognize him. Coleen is pictured right

Coleen reportedly struggled after moving to DC in 2018 when her husband joined DC United as a player – telling Rebecca Vardy in a text message: ‘Washington isn’t the best….nice to visit but different to live.’

Rooney’s US playing career also saw him embroiled in a string of drunken incidents, including an arrest in December 2018 for public intoxication at Dulles International Airport.

In February 2019, he was caught getting into a car with barmaid Vicki Rosiek after a 10-hour booze binge in Florida.

A source told the Sun that while Coleen is reluctant to join her husband in the US for a second time, she wants her brother to move to DC as a chaperone to prevent further boozy incidents.

The source told the Sun: ‘Wayne has assured Coleen he won’t let her down. Things are different to when he was a player and he needs to lead by example on and off the field so he won’t be slipping back into bad habits. But Coleen is still worried.

‘Although she trusts Wayne she knows he can be easily led which is why she’d like her brother or one of Wayne’s brothers to be out there too to keep an eye on him.

‘It would make Coleen feel a lot happier. It’s something they did before. It helped to keep her up to date with what was going on, and Coleen wants to keep a close eye on him.’

Coleen Rooney told friends she hates America and wouldn’t move there with husband Wayne Rooney, 36, if he returned to work for DC United

Coleen, 36, pictured here with husband Wayne, has told friends that their marriage is as strong as it’s ever been – but she has made her views on moving across the Atlantic clear to Wayne

Rooney, pictured with his wife Coleen and their children on Christmas Day, was arrested on December 16, 2019, in Loudoun County, Virginia, home to Washington’s Dulles International Airport

D.C. vs Croxteth – Does Colleen have a point in saying that the U.S. capital is ‘quite behind the UK?’

Coleen Rooney has slammed DC as a ‘nice to visit but different to live,’ as well as not being a kid-friendly city and ‘quite behind the UK.’ However the soccer wife herself grew up in one of the most deprived areas of Liverpool in England

Here, MailOnline compares the two cities and finds the US capital may not be as bad as she once thought when the couple and their four kids lived there between 2018-2020.

Population: Croxteth: 1,4311; D.C.: 670,050 (2021)
Education: 28.7% of Liverpool’s population have no qualifications compared to 22.5% in the entire U.K.
In D.C., roughly 92% of persons age 25 years+ have their High school diploma, while roughly 60% of them went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree or higher
Unemployment: The Liverpool Metropolitain area, including Croxteth, has 4,9725 people who are not in a job
In D.C., there are 18,000 unemployed persons, making up 4.8% of the district’s population
Owner-occupied housing unit rate: 42.5% in D.C. compared to 21% in Liverpool
Median Salary: £30.7k in Liverpool compared to £31.3k in the rest of the UK
$90,842 in D.C. compared to $64,994 in the rest of the U.S.
Persons in Povrety: 15% of D.C.’s total population compared to 11.4% of the total US population
In Liverpool, 15% (or 33,672 residents) of househoulds are in fuel povrety
Children in Povrety: 82,205 children living in poverty in the Liverpool City Region, representing 25.6% of all children in the area
In D.C. 32,000 children are among the 13 million U.S. children who live in poverty, approximately 26%

Sources: Census.gov, ilivehere.co.uk, liverpoolexpress.co.uk

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