Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle. Widely considered one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest British players of all time, Rooney is Manchester United's all time goalscorer with 253 goals and was the record goalscorer for the England national team from 2015 to 2023. He ranks second for the all-time English top goalscorers in the UEFA Champions League (34). He has also made more appearances for England than any other outfield player. Rooney spent most of his playing career as a forward, but was also used in various midfield roles.

Rooney joined the Everton youth team at the age of nine and made his professional debut for the club in 2002 at the age of 16. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window, where he won 16 trophies and became one of only two English players, alongside teammate Michael Carrick, to win the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, League Cup, UEFA Europa League, and FIFA Club World Cup. He scored 253 goals for United in all competitions, making him the club's top goalscorer of all time; his 183 Premier League goals for United is the third-most scored by a player in that competition for any single club, behind only Harry Kane (213 goals for Tottenham Hotspur) and Sergio Agüero (184 goals for Manchester City). Rooney's 208 Premier League goals make him the competition's third-highest scorer of all time, while he also holds the fourth-highest number of assists with 103.

Rooney made his senior international debut for England in February 2003, aged 17, and is England's youngest-ever goalscorer. He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the youngest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship. Rooney later featured at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and was widely regarded as his country's best player. He has won the England Player of the Year award four times, in 2008, 2009, 2014, and 2015. With 53 goals in 120 international caps, Rooney is England's second-most-capped player (behind Peter Shilton) and second-top goalscorer.

Rooney won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year awards for the 2009–10 season, and he has won the Premier League Player of the Month award five times throughout his career. He came fifth in the vote for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, and he was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI for 2011. He won the Goal of the Season award by the BBC's Match of the Day poll on three occasions, and his February 2011 bicycle kick against city rivals Manchester City won the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards Best Goal award.

Wayne Mark Rooney was born in the Croxteth area of Liverpool on 24 October 1985, the son of Jeanette Marie (née Morrey) and Thomas Wayne Rooney. He is of Irish descent through his father, and was brought up as a Roman Catholic with his younger brothers Graham and John. He and his brothers attended Our Lady and St Swithin's Primary School and De La Salle School. John also later became a footballer. Rooney grew up supporting Everton. He admired Brazilian striker Ronaldo, with Rooney stating that "as an out-and-out forward [Ronaldo] was probably the best".

Rooney began playing for Liverpool Schoolboys and scored 72 goals in one season, a record which stood until May 2010. At the age of nine, Rooney played for Copplehouse boys' club in the local Walton and Kirkdale junior league and scored 99 goals in his final season before being spotted by Everton scout Bob Pendleton. Rooney joined Everton at age nine, and was the Everton mascot for the Merseyside derby against Liverpool as an 11-year-old. In the 1995–96 season, he scored 114 goals in 29 games for Everton's under-10s and 11s, and by the age of 15, he was playing for the under-19s. He scored eight goals in eight games during Everton's run to the FA Youth Cup Final in 2002. In the final defeat against Aston Villa, he scored one goal and, upon scoring, revealed a T-shirt that read, "Once a Blue, always a Blue." Rooney was included in Everton's first team squad for their training camp in Austria in the summer of 2002 and scored his first senior goal in a 3–1 friendly victory over SC Weiz on 15 July.

"Rooney is the biggest England talent I've seen since I arrived in England. There has certainly not been a player under 20 as good as him since I became a manager here."

Rooney was an unused substitute in Everton's 1–0 away win over Southampton on 20 April 2002. He made his senior debut on 17 August in a 2–2 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur, starting the match and assisting the first goal by Mark Pembridge. He became the second-youngest first-team player in Everton history behind Joe Royle. In that match, he was booed by the Tottenham fans who shouted "Who are ya?" whenever he touched the ball. His first senior goals came on 2 October when he scored twice in a 3–0 away win over Wrexham in the second round of the League Cup. These goals meant that Rooney was Everton's youngest-ever goalscorer at the time.