Coleen Rooney reveals attacks forced family to leave Liverpool after Wayne joined Manchester United | OneFootball

Family had car windows smashed and house spray-painted after he made £30m move

Coleen Rooney has revealed her family was terrorised following husband Wayne's move from Everton to Manchester United in 2004.

It was a move that paid off spectacularly, with Rooney going on to win five Premier League titles and the Champions League with Sir Alex Ferguson's side, as well as becoming United's all-time record goalscorer.

Yet at the time it left a bitter taste in the Rooneys' home town in Merseyside, a matter addressed by Coleen in an appearance on the Stick to Football podcast with Sky Bet.

Coleen, one of the stars of the recent series of 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here', said: "Our house got spray-painted everywhere and there was smashed windows in cars.

"We literally took ourselves and moved because Sir Alex Ferguson said that he wanted us out of Liverpool.

"But it was our families that got the backlash then and that wasn't fair. Wayne never went into Liverpool for a while after that, to get food or go shopping because people would just shout stuff.

"It was tough, but it was worth it for him because he went on to win and seize the lead goalscorer. We had some fantastic times there."

Rooney grew up as an Everton fan and retained affection for a club he rejoined later in his career but, in a sporting sense, he had no qualms in leaving for United.

Wayne Rooney rejoined Everton in 2017

Getty Images

"All he wanted to do was win trophies," said Coleen, in an interview recorded before Wayne left his post as Plymouth manager on New Year's Eve.

"He saw players in the past stay with their childhood clubs and not go on to win anything. For him it was hard, but he stood his ground and wanted to leave."

Rooney's rise meant Coleen was catapulted into the public eye, something which reached fever pitch when Wayne represented England at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Coleen was staying at a hotel with other players' wives and girlfriends - the 'WAGs' - in Baden Baden which became a magnet for the world's media.

She said: "There was lots of press in the hotel - all the sports writers were there, and the place was tiny, there were only a handful of places to go out, eat and drink.

"We couldn't stay in a hotel all day, we had to go out and get food and enjoy ourselves, but because the press were on top of us they exaggerated things and made out that we were having these parties every night. We weren't.

"The sports writers were 10 times worse than us - they were out all the time. I do think it was unfair the way we got called out for it, that we got the blame for having a good time."

On a different note, Coleen also revealed Wayne's unconventional use of a hairdryer to help him sleep once went horribly wrong.

"Has he told you that it's caught on fire before?" she said. "The hairdryer is on cool, but one time he was cold, so he left it on hot - and it blew up!"