'Mick called me up' Rooney reveals how close he was to playing for Ireland instead of England

In this week's episode of the popular Stick to Football Podcast, hosted by Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney reveals just how close he was to playing for the Republic of Ireland instead of England in his playing days.

The panel, including Ireland legend Roy Keane, were discussing which international teams that would have represented if not their own, and that is when Wayne dropped the bombshell.

Answering the question with a grin he said: "Mine would be Ireland."

To which Roy Keane responds in a witty manner saying: "That was another one of your big mistakes, you could've played for Ireland."

Read Next: 'Shame on you' Taoiseach laughs and cracks a joke when housing crisis is brought up with Trump

The Man United highest ever goal scorer then revealed that "Mick (McCarthy) called me up."

And that the interaction happened between the two when Wayne was just 16 years of age, still playing for his boyhood Everton.

He revealed then that he was "Close to doing it (joining Ireland)" but they had "called me up to the 21s (the underage team for Ireland)."

To which laughing he said "If you want me I'll play for the first team. And it never happened then obviously."

We really missed out on a Wayne Rooney and Robbie Keane frontline, the two would have scored an absolute hatful of goals for the boys in green.

Oh what could have been.

The full clip can be found on the Stick to Football Twitter account or by following the social post below this article.

Wayne Rooney could have played for Ireland? pic.twitter.com/fQZPdhmA1h

— The Overlap (@WeAreTheOverlap) March 13, 2025