John Rooney- A Comprehensive Biography by Ian Watts

John Rooney

The Attacking Midfielder was born on 17^th December 1990, and four days later it was one of those forgettable Friday night games for us Hatters supporters, a goal less draw with visitors Doncaster Rovers, the point allowing County to hold on to 5^th place in Division Four.

EVERTON SCHOOLBOY

The first likely reference I can find for John is fittingly reporting goal scoring action as a piece in the Liverpool Echo from March 2012 says "John Rooney scored the only goal for leaders Liverpool in the Under11 Vernons League win over Halton." He scored further goals in the same competition that season.

It seems being the younger brother by five years to Everton's Wayne meant perhaps more attention than normally merited to a 12 year old, but he made the national papers when the Independent on Sunday of 23^rd February 2003 reported he had been taken on by Everton's academy the week before. He had been with the club since aged six.

In September 2004 around the time of his brother's debut for their senior side, the Express reported that John had switched from Everton to Manchester United's training school of excellence. He was also still in the Liverpool schoolboys representative side, now at U14 level, where one of his teammates was County player from the 2011-12 season Ryan Fraughan.

Schools Trophy at EP.

One season on and he was in the U15 side that won the prestigious English Schools FA Trophy with a 2-0 aggregate victory over Swansea. They went on to collect three other trophies with the MCSFA League and Cup double, and North West Cup, with Fraughan still involved as well with the pair both scoring in the MCSFA cup final victory.

ON THE SILK ROAD

In March 2007 the Macclesfield Express reported that John had joined the Silkmen's Youth Academy, apparently after he had been released by Everton- so it may be that he went back to the Toffees, or had in fact been released by the Old Trafford side some time that season. 

 

image- macclesfieldexpress.

A former Everton and at the time current Macclesfield scout had introduced the player to the club, with the report stating Everton had contacted him about John. When the news broke Centre of Excellence manager, Mick Holgate, said his ability is clear but he has to get fitter, he had permission from his school to train three times a week with Macc, and play for their Under 16 side on Sunday's. He was also taking a joinery course at the time.

He signed on as a scholar for the following season helping the Youth team through to the fourth round of their national FA competition before going out at Sunderland's Stadium of Light, future Hatter Kristian Dennis scoring the Mac consolation goal. Two months later John made his debut as a late sub in a 3-0 victory over Barnet on 24th March 2008 at the Moss Rose, entering the field a couple of minutes after his new County team mate James Jennings. He got one more game that season, starting the 0-0 draw at Chester City on the last day, as Town ended the League Two season in 19^th position.

In theory he still had a year left as a scholar, but on 14 July he was signed to his first professional contract. During that season, which Macclesfield finished one place lower, John played 10+4 sub EFL games, scoring 2 goals, and added single substitute appearances in the FA Cup, at home to his previous side, and League cup at top flight West Ham United. Macc were struggling a little for points at this stage but as Rooney and other youngsters got more involved they climbed to 13^th after 10 games. However, a poor second half of the season meant they were only safe two games before the end.

One worrying event during the season saw manager, and former Hatter, Keith Alexander taken to hospital for a brain scan an hour before Macc's 0-2 defeat to Bournemouth in March. 
 

Keith Alexander- image wikipedia.

Towards the end of that month John struck his first senior goal in a game at Dagenham and Redbridge, with the manager -- who had been given an all clear after that scan - stating he would have got more games if the team were playing better as a whole.

The second year of his contract was another poor season for Macclesfield, but John was much more involved playing in more than half the matches adding a couple of goals to his early career tally, with several long range efforts going close. Early season reports referenced the regular attendance of scouts from other clubs watching Rooney, with manager Alexander issuing a hands off warning.

The Silkmen were getting occasional decent wins, but could not string a run of such results together, whilst John was switched between the bench and the starting eleven.

He spent time on trial with Nigel Clough's Derby County but a planned appearance in a reserve game against Sheffield United on 24^th February was not possible as the game was postponed. He returned the following week to play against Sheffield Wednesday Reserve, being described as comfortable on the ball in a 1-0 win.

Keith Alexander, his manager at Macclesfield, had died the night before this game so on his return to the Moss Rose John found a new man, Gary Simpson, in charge. Town finished the season well, gaining sufficient points in the remaining games to stave off any relegation fears, ending up 19^th.

John had another trial towards the end of the season scoring two for Preston North End in a closed door friendly. He turned down a new contract, his last game coming with the final league match of the season a goalless draw at Lincoln City on 8th May.

STATESIDE

Another trial came during pre-season this time at Huddersfield Town playing in their opening friendly on 10 July, but John quickly decided to try another approach and headed to the United States to show his ability at Seattle Sounders. His trial trail then continued with Portland Timbers, but under Major League Soccer rules these clubs could not sign him as John would have to be included in the MLS draft list.

Whilst waiting for this process to start at the end of the year John returned to the UK and was allowed to train with Tranmere Rovers from September to maintain his fitness levels, manager Les Parry making it clear to the press that he was not on trial with them.

He signed with the MLS on 28 December 2010, which meant if picked up by a club he could go straight into their squad. He was selected in the second round of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by New York Red Bulls on 13 January 2011, becoming a team mate of Thierry Henry.
 

John at NY Bulls- image en.wikipedia.org

He went on to figure in just seven games during the season, including a couple in the Open Cup, the closest equivalent in North America to the FA Cup. His only goal for NYRB came in one of those games a third round tie when they beat FC New York 2-1 in their first ever meeting. The team finished 5th in the Eastern Conference, and fell at the semi-final stage of the Conference post season play offs.

Released in November he continued his stay in the States by signing on for Orlando City on 27 January the following year. Orlando played in the USL Pro league and earlier that month recent former Hatter Anthony Pulis had joined them as player coach.

John found games and goals a little easier to come by at this level as City won their conference title, losing in the play-off semi, and he also added more goals in the Open Cup. He finished the season with five from 13 Appearances in all competitions.

BBC - BARNSLEY, BURY AND CHESTER

By mid September John was on trial with Championship side Barnsley back in the UK, scoring on his debut for their Under 21 side as they drew 3-3 with Wigan Athletic on the 17^th of that month. This led to a contract in mid October, but he failed to break into contention for the match day line-ups, playing out his football with further U21 games.

John was released in the summer and his performance in Bury's first friendly of pre-season earned him a contract to stay in the EFL, signing on 10th July 2013. He made his debut for the Shakers as a substitute in a 3-2 League Cup victory over Crewe Alexandra on 6 August. John came off the bench during the Gigg Lane defeat to Morecambe on 12^th October, and that was to be his last game for the club.

By the time Bury concluded the season in mid-table John, who in addition to the two games mentioned above had made one EFL start and one more appearance from the bench, was long gone. Games were clearly hard to come by and John went out on loan to Chester FC, signing for future County boss Neil Young towards the end of November.

After making his debut in a home FA Trophy defeat to Barrow, during this initial one month spell with the Conference side John scored once, a penalty in a 3-3 draw with Lincoln City, in four league games. After this loan spell ended he was a permanent Chester player as of 10^th January, by the time they played their next game, albeit with a different gaffer, Neil Young having been sacked two days earlier. Gary Jones, who was to be appointed Assistant Manager to Young when he became County boss, took over as caretaker and Rooney had a promising start to his permanent spell by scoring three at Runcorn Town in the Cheshire Senior Cup.

John had finally found a club who wanted him as first choice, and he went on to play 25 Conference games from the first whistle, and scored a total of 5 league goals.

Although they started the New Year with a couple of wins and claimed the three points every few games it was still a season of struggling against relegation. An equaliser from Salisbury City four minutes from the end of the season meant a 21^st placed finish, and relegation. Hereford United were later expelled and that earned the Cestrians a reprieve.

So they retained their place in the top flight of non-league football for a second season, and manager Steve Burr started a recruitment campaign by signing former Hatter Sean McConville, to add to the few men, including John, who were still under contract.

Hopes were high for a better season, although starting with two defeats including a 5-0 home loss on the opening day must have put doubts on their minds. Highlight for John early in the season may well have be a stunning free-kick strike curled right footed into the goal in a September game that saw Chester's first home win and former club Macc lose for the first time.

Shortly after this game he was selected for a contingency squad as potential cover for an England C training camp, Also in that reserve list were former or future Hatters David Fitzpatrick and Micah Evans (Southport), Andy Halls (Macclesfield), Jordan Keane (Alfreton Town) and Connor Jennings (Wrexham),

When their time came to join in the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round, John was to face County for the first time. Despite hosting the tie on Saturday 25th October, the Hatters were underdogs playing in the division below Chester. The game attracted 4,621 who saw County recover from 0-2 down at half time, to level things four minutes later, but Chester went on to claim the win with two further goals, and the game ended with a red card each.

They went on to play three more games in the competition including a 0-0 draw at Oakwell, but this seemed to affect their league form as a win at the end of the year was their first in seven games. The Trophy was less fun as Chester lost a first round replay on penalties to AFC Telford United, although John was successful with his kick.

John figured in every league game that season, three appearances coming from the bench, and scored 11 goals as Chester fC had their best ever season at that level finishing 12^th.

Hopes were high of a promotion challenge and Chester had a good pre-season with Five Wins, with Rooney scoring four including a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory against Liverpool U21, which as an Evertonian he must have enjoyed a little more than a run of the mill friendly game, and they carried that form into two League wins and a draw before the first Conference defeat. They kept up similar form through into         September, before slipping down the table. There was to be no FA Cup run this season either as former Hatters trialists Damien Reeves struck to give Altrincham a 1-0 win in October's 4^th QR tie.

They finished the season in decent form, albeit after manager Steve Burr was sacked with four games left, but Chester had dropped to a 17th place finish and Rooney had played 41 Conference games, five as a sub, and scored 10 goals. John played what would turn out to be his last Chester game on 30th April 2016 with a home 4-2 victory over Gateshead.

CROSSING THE BORDER

Once their caretaker manager had been appointed permanently in early May, Rooney was offered a new contract, and reports said he was of a mind to sign on but another side were linked with him almost as soon as the season had been completed. In the end a move proved more of an attraction so on 7th June 2016, John moved to divisional and traditional rivals Wrexham on a one year deal. Wrexham wanted Rooney as a replacement for a certain Connor Jennings who had moved to Tranmere Rover.

He made his debut on the opening day of the season, in a goalless draw with Dover Athletic. The FA Cup saw a giant killing at the Racecourse by a Stamford side from three levels down the Pyramid in a replay, so the Dragons missed out on the competition proper, mind you Wrexham had caretakers in charge as the man who brought Rooney to the club had been dismissed a couple of days before, with the side in 15^th.

Late January saw a surprise for the Wrexham fans when top scorer and near ever present John was dropped to the bench. It later transpired that like other members of the squad he had a clause in his contract which could triggered an automatic renewal after starting a set number of games. John had reached one short of his total, so was put in the subs list. The Dragons' manager said he would have talks with John, presumably with a view to revising the contract in some way, but despite coming on to score in the game when he was dropped from the starting XI, John remained on the bench.

Soon after the issue was revealed John came off the bench to score two in a 3-1 win over Yorkshire side Guiseley and after one more game (as a sub) for Wrexham the following Saturday, which would end up being his last for the Red Dragons, was making his Guiseley debut The contract issue had clearly not been resolved. The press did reveal another player had been persuaded to change his contract to remove or revise a similar clause.

Wrexham were to finish the season 13^th with John contributing 29 league games plus 4 as sub, scoring 11 goals. As an aside in the midst of this it was announced that Rooney had just won the National League Player of the Month award for January.

YORKSHIRE GRIT

His debut game on 14^th Feb 2017 saw John score the winner against Sutton United. In just over a month he played another six matches for the Conference strugglers but was unable to score again, and then injury put him out of action.

At the end of the season Wrexham released the player who finished as their top scorer, and on 15^th May he agreed to rejoined Guiseley on a permanent basis. He was to be joined at the club by ex-Hatter Kevan Hurst and a striker who had left County that summer, Kayode Odejayi and his new County teammate Ash Palmer was in his second season with the Yorkshire side.

His second debut came in the opening day 2-2 home draw with Ebbsfleet United, and it was again a goal scoring start for Rooney. Whilst the league games were something of a struggle, they changed managers a couple of months in, Guiseley recorded a convincing 6-0 victory over Shildon to make the FA Cup proper, with John scoring from the penalty spot. Against Accrington Stanley in the first round, John came off the bench in both games and scored from the spot in the home replay, and again as the non-leaguers won through in a shoot out

His final game ,a  3-1 defeat at Boreham Wood, saw John reach 31 games, seven as a sub, and he notched five goals for a side whose struggle in the top non-league tier came to a definite end with a bottom of the table finish.

NORTH WEST FRONTIER

At the start of July he moved on to Barrow, and it was a good debut for John although he failed to score as they beat visitors Havant & Waterlooville 3-0 on 4th August 2018. An inconsistent first period of the season followed with some decent wins but too many dropped points to maintain a promotion challenge.

They put together a decent run into December to climb into the top half of the table but went out at the first stage of both FA competitions. By season's end there was little hint of what would happen the following season, with Barrow finishing 11^th, but John notched 10 goals and figured in every National League game, starting 44.

Last season of course saw Barrow at the top of the table for much of the time, and some weeks after the crisis brought about an early end, they were officially promoted back to the Football League.

We met them only once, on an early season August night with County coming on top in an entertaining game 3-2. 

John vies with Connor Dimaio.

.....and keeps Hinchliffe on his toes !

After County had recovered from Barrow's third minute goal to go in front in the second half, John levelled the scores again, in his second ever game against the Hatters, only for Adam Thomas to get the winner.

 

John lines a lethal strike up v County 2019-20.

Aside from this set-back Rooney along with former County first team or reserve men Jason Taylor and Jack Hindle delivered the necessary results. It was a personal success for John as well, top scoring for Barrow, with 17 goals coming in 37 National league games, starting all of them.

County had decided he was the man to help boost our own promotion pedigree, and an undisclosed fee and the chance to play for Jim Gannon, prised John away from Barrow with a year left on his contract.

The promotion celebrations proper could only begin two days after he had signed for County, and as if to underline his pedigree at this level since joining us he has also been named National League Player of the Year.

Welcome to Edgeley Park John ! 

Ian Watts