24-05-2025
Irish priest who said Wayne Rooney's wedding Mass recalls Goodison Park memories
An Irish priest, who was flown to Italy by Wayne Rooney to be his wedding priest, has bid a fond farewell to Everton's Goodison Park and has given his blessing to the club's new stadium.
Fr Edward Quinn told the Irish Mirror about his favourite moments at the famous ground dubbed the Grand Old Lady and his memories of going to matches with the Rooney family and seeing Wayne score his wonder-goal, aged only 16 and still on a youth contract, against Arsenal in the Premier League in 2002.
He said: "I have lots of good memories from Goodison, down through the years. I loved going there, it was great and the Rooney family connection was great. I remember Wayne coming through as a young lad. He was on the bench a lot at the start and then there was the famous time that he came on against Arsenal. He scored that wonderful goal and I was glad to be there for it. I'll never forget that day. The score was 1-1 and the crowd knew that Wayne was on the bench.
"They kept singing his name, calling for him to come on. The manager David Moyes eventually sent him on [in the 80th minute], just a few days before his 17th birthday. He was hardly on the pitch when he shot. It was a colossal strike [in the 89th minute] and beat the England goalie David Seaman."
He added: "He was only a boy, probably only on £20 a week at the time. But he was a very confident boy that he could do things like and take on that kind of a shot. It was a happy day."
Fr Ned (85) is a long-time Rooney family friend who was flown to Italy in 2008 to marry Wayne (39) and Coleen (39) - who are both from Irish-emigrant families - and later Christened their children. He said: "I went to the games at Goodison with Coleen's dad Tony too. It was always great to see Wayne and I think now he is doing well in punditry.
"He was a very shy lad and hated the cameras, and I remember he was so quiet in front of the cameras at a press conference when he signed professional forms with Everton [in 2003]. But he has become more confident now about speaking in public, which shows his maturity."
Fr Ned added: "Wayne's first car was a convertible Kia and he parked it outside our St Theresa's Church, where I was parish priest, near Goodison while he was at Mass with Coleen and the family. When he went out to the car, a crowd had gathered and they all cheered when Wayne got into the car and put down the hood."
Fr Ned, who is now a priest in Darndale, Co Dublin, became friends with Wayne and Coleen's Irish-emigrant families when he was sent from Ireland to their parish in Liverpool decades ago. Wayne's grandparents Billy Murray and his wife Patricia Fitzsimons - who got her name due to her birth on St Patrick's Day - were both born in Ireland and honeymooned in Bray, Co Wicklow, while Coleen's dad Tony's grandfather came from Co Mayo.
Fr Ned knew Wayne and Coleen as children, was their wedding priest in Portofino, and Christened their three boys. Coleen's parents stayed with Fr Ned in Darndale when he said a special anniversary Mass for their adopted daughter Rosie, who died on January 5, 2013, following a long illness with Rett syndrome. He has been a regular at private Rooney family functions and texted his personal congratulations to Wayne when the Everton and Manchester United legend became United's all-time top goalscorer in January 2017.
Thousands of Everton fans packed the streets to say a final farewell to Goodison when the club played its last Premier League home game on May 18 and won 2-0 against Southampton. The club is due to move into their new Bramley-Moore Dock ground called the Hill Dickinson Stadium for next season – when Fr Ned hopes to return for a "private blessing".
He told the Irish Mirror: "I'm looking forward to seeing the new stadium. I won't be involved in a formal blessing when it opens because I am based now in Darndale. But I hope to get over and maybe I'll give it a private blessing. We need a lot of blessings at the moment, but we did manage to finish above Manchester United."
