Wayne Rooney is banned from watching son, 15, play football for sad reason
Wayne Rooney's celebrity status has emerged as the reason behind the Manchester United legend being barred from watching his son Kai play football. The 15-year-old is the eldest child of Rooney and wife Coleen, who are also parents to three younger boys - Klay, 11, Kit, eight, and Cass, six.
Kai became part of the Red Devils academy in 2016, treading the same path as his iconic father who dedicated 13 years to Old Trafford and holds the club's scoring record with 253 goals.
Despite being recognised as a promising talent, the young striker has informed his celebrated dad that his presence isn't welcome at matches, owing to the enormous crowds he attracts.
The revelation came during Coleen's appearance on ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here last year. Prior to securing second place behind McFly vocalist Danny Jones, she shared details of her son's difficult choice with her fellow campmates, reports the Express.
"That's the thing with kids I think, it's hard to go on days out," Coleen revealed to her jungle companions last December. "Kai told Wayne to stop coming to football games, when he played grassroots tournaments and stuff because he used to get swarmed and he couldn't even watch the game.
"How do you say to all of these kids, 'Go away, I'm watching my son?' Adults, it's different you could speak to them, so he [Kai] just said, 'Oh, dad there's no point you coming because you don't even watch me play anyway.' Which is sad, but it can't be helped anyway. At the same time, the fans help you along the way and get you where you are."
Despite his father's absence, Kai has continued to shine in the academy and even found the net in United's opening SuperCupNI fixture on Monday. The teenager converted from the penalty spot and mimicked the trademark celebration of Arsenal's latest acquisition, Viktor Gyokeres.
Following his assist for Sam O'Brien's opener against West Cork Academy, Kai confidently dispatched the spot-kick before team-mate Abdoulaye Bassirou Nkoto sealed a third.
The celebration, which sees Gyokeres mask his face by weaving his fingers together, was devised whilst the Swedish striker was on his holidays, with the forward admitting his mates pushed him to devise his own goal celebration.
"Before I got it, my friends were always saying to me to find my own celebration because they were very tired of me doing all kinds of stuff when I was celebrating," he previously said. "I had some time off. We went on vacation together. During that time, we came up with it after a while. We thought it looked good, and I started doing it straightaway. It felt even better on the pitch."
Despite the existence of his ban, Rooney, 39, attended the tournament in Northern Ireland alongside his wife to keep a keen eye on their son in action. The ex-Plymouth boss spoke to BBC News NI about his son's career in the academy and the role he plays in his progression.
"He has great coaches at Manchester United, so I take a stand-off approach," Rooney said. "I speak to him, but for me it's all about his mentality and his mindset, to make sure he keeps enjoying it – that's the main thing for me. It's a long time since I was here, but it does bring back great memories.
"The Super Cup, like many other tournaments, is a fantastic place to go away as a young person; you're away with your team-mates in a hotel together, and it's great for team building."
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