Wayne and Coleen Rooney have revealed that their youngest son, Cass, has been released from Everton's academy. The former Everton and Manchester United star and the TV personality have four sons: Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass.
Their eldest, Kai, 16, is impressing for United's Under-18s after being awarded a scholarship this summer. His younger brother Klay, 13, is also on the books at Old Trafford.
Hardest thing
Eight-year-old Cass had been a regular at the Blues' academy until recently. Appearing on the Therapy Crouch podcast alongside former Liverpool favourite Peter Crouch and his wife, model Abbey Clancy, Wayne and Coleen opened up about their son's devastation upon learning he had no immediate future at Everton.
"The youngest one, he got let go," Coleen said. "That was the hardest thing. Because the older two had been there and stayed there at United, Cass was at Everton. It was only Under-7s 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-9s, 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."
Phone call moment
Coleen described the moment she had to tell Cass the news. "I phoned him [Wayne] and I was like, 'You're going to have to tell him,' and then I had a moment before he [Wayne] came in and he [Cass] was on his own in the house."
"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. But 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 advice
When asked how the couple coped with their son's rejection from the Blues, 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: "In football, the amount of players we've played with (gestures to Crouch) who maybe don't make it at Man United, Everton or Liverpool, but then they go and play [Elsewhere], so there's opportunity to have a career."
"And you forget, they're so young. I said to him, '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 Real Rooneys
Wayne and Coleen have recently opened the doors of their family home, giving viewers an intimate glimpse into their day-to-day lives through the new Disney+ series, The Real Rooneys.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players ever to represent both Everton and United, Wayne's tally of 253 goals for the Red Devils makes him the club's all-time leading scorer, though he has made clear his desire for his sons to forge their own paths in the game.
In the Disney-produced programme, the 40-year-old said: "Kai wants his own legacy, and I'll be there to support him. What I don't want is him to get a scholarship or get a contract because of me."
"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."
