The Wayne Rooney Show: 'I should have cancelled party'

Wayne Rooney has been involved in plenty of Manchester derby moments - both good and bad.

He even partied with opposition players after one of the worst defeats of the Sir Alex Ferguson era.

United's all-time top scorer was speaking about it with former City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips on the latest edition of his BBC podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show.

City host United on Sunday (16:30 BST) in their first game since the international break.

Watch the Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport YouTube,, external and iPlayer. Listen on BBC Sounds.

One of the most memorable Manchester derbies was City's 6-1 win at Old Trafford in October 2011.

"I think that was a big moment for City back then because you could feel City coming up and getting closer to us," Rooney said.

"But to come to Old Trafford and win 6-1, I think that was a statement. I remember being on the pitch and it was horrible.

"It was like in the second half, just felt like it was goal after goal, and you're just like, 'oh, get me off this pitch'."

But he would not be able to switch off from the game that night.

"After something like that I'd usually just go home. But I had a birthday party. Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and a few of the City players were invited to my birthday party," he said.

"You've got family, friends, everyone who's made their own plans to come. I was like, 'I can't cancel it' so I went.

"We've got the United lads, some of the City lads sat there. I think it was me, Crouchy [Peter Crouch], Harty [Joe Hart] - we all got up and did a song of Backstreet Boys. Looking back, I should have cancelled, but it was the friends and family who'd all booked the time off and got the babysitters and stuff."

Months before that 6-1, Rooney scored one of the most iconic Premier League goals in a derby.

His overhead kick gave them a late 2-1 win in February 2011.

It won the Premier League Goal of the 20 Seasons award in 2012.

"I was so bad in that game. It's one of the worst games I've ever played. I couldn't control a ball," Rooney said.

"I think it's more of an iconic goal because it's the derby, you score and win the game 2-1. But you don't practise overhead kicks."

Rooney says his favourite derby memory was in 2007 when United won 1-0 through a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty to move to the brink of the title.

"The next day we won the league," said Rooney, for whom it was his first Premier League title. "We obviously all met up and went out. But I think we knew if we won that game [against City], we won the league."

Rooney and Wright-Phillips spoke about footballing fathers in the show.

Wright-Phillips has the distinction of having a professional football father and son.

His dad, Ian Wright, is an Arsenal legend - and son D'Margio Wright-Phillips plays for Belgian club Beerschot.

Speaking about his father and his young daughter, Wright-Phillips said: "A lot of people see you and just expect you to be as good as him or play the same way as him.

"I got a lot of stick growing up from parents and all the rest of it, and I know my daughter's been getting it recently at 11 already from parents. She's been getting booed off the pitch when she's come off injured.

"I just tell her, I've always told them, 'just play your game'. Answer all the questions with your football. Don't have a reaction that everybody's expecting you to react, which is normally taking your focus away from what you're actually meant to be doing."

Speaking about D'Margio, he said: "He did actually really well at Stoke. And then the manager changes. It becomes a bit tricky.

"And now he's learning how to deal with the downside of football, which a lot of kids don't see. A lot of kids just think you play football, you're going to play all the time and you're going to live the high life.

"So he ends up going on loan, helped Beerschot get promoted to the championship, had a terrible season last year in terms of he was injured.

"So mentally he didn't know how to deal with it. And now the new coach has come in and they want him off the books and now he's learning to deal with something else to do with football.

"And there's something he has to grow up and deal with because there's only some things that me as a dad and as an ex-footballer can help him with."

Rooney's son, Kai, has played for Manchester United in the Under-18 Premier League this season despite only being 15.

"There's a bit more pressure on them as well," said Rooney.

"Kai and [when Cristiano] Ronaldo came back, Ronaldo's lads and Michael Carrick's lad were all on the same team.

"You go and watch and then all of a sudden there's like 10 times the amount of people that's normally there, all around the pitch watching, so there's a lot more pressure because they're coming to watch the three kids to see how they play and stuff. They've got to be ready."

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