The numbers behind Rooney's United career

Saturday 17 July 2021 15:59

Wayne Rooney will be reunited with Manchester United on Sunday, when his Derby County side take on the Reds in a friendly at Pride Park Stadium.

It's a great excuse then, for us to get nostalgic and reflect on our all-time top goalscorer’s time as a Red.

We've compiled 11 bumper stats from Wayne’s record-breaking time at United…

The Wayne Rooney timeline Video

The Wayne Rooney timeline

We chart current Derby manager Wayne Rooney's magnificent career at United...

Total United Appearances – 559
The Englishman sits sixth on our all-time appearances list, with only Ryan Giggs, Sir Bobby Charlton, Paul Scholes, Bill Foulkes and Gary Neville ahead of him.

Total United Goals - 253
But no-one netted more times for United than Wayne. He broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s long-standing record of 249 goals with a brilliant free-kick against Stoke City in January 2017.

Teams played against most often - Arsenal & Chelsea
The striker’s most common foes at United were Arsenal and Chelsea. Rooney played 30 times against both clubs respectively. Arsene Wenger was also the manager he faced most often during his time at United.

Number of teams scored against - 58
Over 13 years, Wazza netted against 58 clubs - from Barcelona to Exeter City, and plenty in between!

Most goals against an opponent - Aston Villa
Wayne scored 14 goals against Villa in 25 appearances, just one more than he bagged against Newcastle United. Villa Park was also Wayne’s favourite away ground, and he scored there on 13 occasions.

Top-scoring season - 2009/10 & 2011/12
In both of these campaigns, Wayne netted 34 goals in all competitions. He managed to achieve that total from 43 appearances in 2011/12, one less than in 2009/10. Despite all of his goals, Rooney never won the Premier League Golden Boot award. He finished just three shy of Didier Drogba in the 2009/10 term.

UTD Podcast: The story of Rooney's transfer Video

UTD Podcast: The story of Rooney's transfer

In this first extract from his UTD Podcast, Rooney names the two clubs who rivalled United for his signature in 2004...

Hat-tricks - 8
It all began with a treble for Wayne on his United debut in 2004, during a 6-2 win over Fenerbache. He went on to net a further seven for the Reds, leaving him fourth on the all-time list of United hat-trick heroes, behind Dennis Law, Jack Rowley and Dennis Violet.

Most regular team-mate - Michael Carrick
Rooney and Carrick shared the pitch together at United 345 times. Carrick joined the Reds in 2006, two years after Rooney. The pair also lined up alongside each other 21 times when playing for England. Rio Ferdinand was Rooney’s second most common team-mate at United and they played together 312 times for the Reds, followed by Patrice Evra (301) and Ryan Giggs (278).

What a duo - Wayne with Michael Carrick!

Most common opposition player - Petr Cech
Rooney played against Cech on 25 occasions during the goalkeeper’s time at Chelsea and Arsenal. Wazza also faced Gareth Barry and James Milner 25 times, although he played more minutes against Cech. John Terry (24) is next on the list, followed by Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard (23).

Number of major trophies won - 13
During his time at United, Rooney became one of the club’s most decorated players, winning 13 major trophies including five league titles, four League Cups and the FA Cup, Champions League, Europa League and Club World Cup on one occasion. On top of that, Wayne also collected four winners’ medals in the Community Shield.

Number of managers played under- 5
Rooney made over 400 appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson, but also was managed by David Moyes, Ryan Giggs (caretaker), Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho at the Theatre of Dreams.

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