Background
Rooney was born in Croxteth, Liverpool to Thomas Wayne and Jeanette Marie Rooney. He is of Irish descent and was brought up as a Roman Catholic with younger brothers Graham and John; all three attended Our Lady and St Swithin's primary school and the De La Salle Humanities College. He grew up supporting his local club Everton.
Career
Rooney began playing for Liverpool Schoolboys and until May 2010 he held the record of 72 goals scored in one season. At age 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 15 years old 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. This included one goal in the final defeat against Aston Villa and upon scoring he revealed a T-shirt that read, "Once a Blue, always a Blue. Rooney was included in the 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.