When it comes to being a “football widow”, Coleen Rooney knows the feeling better than most. Since getting together with husband Wayne at the age of 16, she’s had to share him with the beautiful game, uprooting her family in the process and spending large periods of time as the sole parent at home.
But while it briefly seemed like that phase of their lives was over and Wayne, 38, was set to spend more time as a hands-on dad, things are now up in the air again, following news that the former England captain has been appointed as the new manager of Plymouth Argyle. This is in addition to his upcoming gig as a BBC pundit for Euro 2024, which will take him to Germany for a month between June and July.
And, while Coleen is delighted that Wayne has found a job, we’re told she’s not so happy about the inevitable fact that he’ll be spending large chunks of time away from the family yet again.
“Coleen is facing the prospect of not really seeing Wayne for the next few months – and it feels like they’re back to square one,” says an insider close to the mum of four, who reluctantly moved her brood to the US in 2018 for Wayne’s career, before coming home a year later while Wayne stayed on until 2022.
“They’d only just got into a good routine after he returned home from the US, and this Plymouth job came out of the blue, but Wayne felt like he had no option but to take it – his reputation as a manager isn’t exactly glowing at the moment.
“Coleen understands, but it means that instead of taking things easy before he heads off to Germany, he now has to focus on finding a place down there. Once the Euros are over, he’ll be straight into pre-season training, and it’ll be Coleen who’s hit the hardest, as she’ll be doing all the parenting while Wayne settles into his new life.”
Unsurprisingly, Wayne’s new appointment has come as a massive relief for the former striker, after he was fired from his role as Birmingham City manager earlier this year following just 83 days in charge. But while Coleen is happy for him, our source tells us she’s also anxious about what it means for her and their four sons – Kai, 14, Klay, 11, Kit, eight, and six-year-old Cass.
The boys have a busy life in Cheshire, where Kai is making a name for himself as a player for Manchester United’s youth team – and Coleen herself has some exciting prospects on the horizon following the successes of her Disney+ documentary and memoir last year. We’re told the 38 year old isn’t willing to follow Wayne to Plymouth full-time and, although she’s happy for them to scout for a seaside home in the nearby resort of Salcombe, she’s also not prepared to put the boys’ life on hold. The best she can do, we’re told, is “try to make this work”.
Meanwhile, it’s the same as it ever was for Coleen, with our source saying she’s reaching out to fellow WAG Kate Ferdinand, whose husband, Rio, is also heading to Germany as a TV pundit. Kate has been happily married to Rio for almost five years, but she met him following his retirement from football – which means she’s never felt the full effect of life as an abandoned WAG. Now, with Rio and Wayne heading off to the Euros, our source tells us that Coleen is stepping in to offer support and fully enrol Kate into the guild of football wives.
“Coleen and Kate have already spoken about how tough it’s going to be,” our insider says. “They’ve said they’ll support each other as both are being left at home with the kids. Coleen is very used to the situation, so she’s going to be giving Kate some advice on how to handle it.”