Wayne Rooney was nearly in tears on the after his younger brother John guided Macclesfield to an FA Cup upset over Crystal Palace in January, a moment that showed how quickly his new life in broadcasting has become as personal as it is prominent. Rooney, 40, is due to be at Wembley Stadium on Saturday for the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City.
“I'm actually getting emotional. To see my younger brother achieve this, he's not long been in management,” Rooney said after Macclesfield’s win. He added: “To get to the fourth round of the FA Cup and beat a Premier League team in Crystal Palace, I'm so proud of him. He looked calm – I don't know how. It's such an achievement what he's done today. Absolutely superb.”
The reaction carried extra weight because John Rooney’s route into management has been a long one. Let go by Everton at the age of 12, he went on to play for Chester, Wrexham, Stockport, Oldham and Macclesfield before taking his first managerial role with the club last summer. The FA Cup victory over Crystal Palace gave him a result few would have predicted and gave Wayne Rooney a moment that cut through the polished language of studio analysis.
That mix of familiarity and authority has helped define Rooney’s first year at the. He joined in 2025, became a regular on Match of the Day and has been selected for the corporation’s coverage of the summer World Cup. The is understood to have been impressed by his work during Euro 2024 and wanted to secure him after that tournament, treating him as more than a former star player turned pundit.
The move also reflects where Rooney is in his own career. He retired from playing, then had unsuccessful managerial stints at Plymouth Argyle and Birmingham City before moving into punditry. He reportedly signed a two-year deal worth around £800,000, or about £400,000 annually, which still sits well below the £440,000 to £444,999 collected by Alan Shearer last year in figures, and far from the money Rooney earned in his playing days when his wages topped £300,000 a week. Celebrity Net Worth estimates his fortune at about £127m.
For the, Rooney’s appeal is obvious: he brings a famous name, elite playing experience and a willingness to speak plainly when the moment matters. For Rooney, the test is whether those qualities travel beyond the familiarity of Premier League analysis and into the bigger stage of a World Cup summer. Saturday at Wembley will be another check of that footing, but January showed the larger truth already — Rooney is no longer only reflecting the game, he is helping shape how it is seen.
