Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen have revealed that their youngest son, Cass, eight, "burst out crying" after being released from Everton's academy. The couple discussed the emotional moment on the Therapy Crouch podcast with Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy.
The Croxteth-born former England striker and Coleen have four sons: Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass. While Kai, 16, is thriving with Manchester United's under-18s after earning a scholarship, and Klay, 13, is also on United's books, Cass suffered heartbreak after being let go by Wayne's boyhood club.
Coleen describes the difficult phone call
Coleen explained on the podcast that Cass was at Everton, the club he loves, and had a season ticket. "The youngest one, he got let go. That was the hardest thing," she said. "It was only under-sevens, and he is a massive Evertonian, so he's got a season ticket, and he loves Everton. So, the fact that he was there was everything to him."
She added: "We knew, because it was a big squad, and obviously, then going into the under-nines, you get signed then. We knew he wasn't going to stay because he wasn't one of the stronger ones there and the day came when we got the phone call."
Coleen recalled telling Cass the news: "I was like, 'Cass, I've had a call and you're not going to be going into the next [year at Everton]' and he threw his head into his hands and he just burst out crying." She said that an hour later, "He forgot about it. He was fine. He still plays for his grassroots team and he was on the phone straight away to my mum and dad saying, 'Everton have released me.'"
Wayne's message to his son
Asked how the couple coped with their son's rejection, Wayne said: "If you think about, anything really, even in school, you have people in higher sets, that's part of life isn't it?" He added that many players he and Crouch have played with who didn't make it at big clubs still found careers elsewhere, saying: "there's opportunity to have a career."
Wayne told Cass: "I didn't join Everton's academy until I was nine, so actually you've got loads of time. Enjoy playing football and if it comes, it comes."
The 40-year-old also spoke about his eldest son Kai's scholarship at United, saying: "Kai wants his own legacy, and I'll be there to support him. I want it to be because of him in his own right. It's something he's wanted for a long time, so [I'll] be proud, really proud of him to get a scholarship."
Wayne and Coleen have recently opened up their family home in the new Disney+ series, The Real Rooneys.
