Wayne Rooney: England boss Roy Hodgson wanted Rebekah Vardy to 'calm down' during Euros

 

Wayne Rooney has described how the then England manager Roy Hodgson asked him to speak with Jamie Vardy to ask his wife Rebekah to "calm down" during Euro 2016.

Jamie Vardy's representatives later told the press outside of the hearing that Wayne Rooney was "talking nonsense" regarding the claim.

Giving evidence in the High Court on Tuesday, Wayne Rooney also revealed that his wife Coleen Rooney has become "a different mother" and "a different wife" since her "reveal" post and Rebekah Vardy's subsequent libel claim against her.

In a viral social media post in October 2019, Mrs Rooney said she had carried out a "sting operation" and accused Mrs Vardy of leaking "false stories" about her private life to the press - prompting her to be dubbed "Wagatha Christie".

Mrs Vardy, 40, who is married to 35-year-old Leicester City striker Jamie, denies leaking stories to the media and is suing her fellow footballer's wife for libel.

Mrs Rooney, 36, is defending the claim on the basis her post was "substantially true".

Case documents were released on Tuesday showing the fake stories created by Ms Rooney on Instagram - and viewed by Ms Vardy's account.

Former England captain Rooney has attended court with his wife for each of the six days of the trial so far, sitting in the front row of court 13 in the Royal Courts of Justice.

But on Tuesday the 36-year-old moved into the witness box to give his evidence to the packed courtroom.

Rooney described how he was asked by then England manager, Hodgson, and his assistant manager, Gary Neville, to speak to Jamie Vardy to ask his wife to "calm down" during the Euro 2016 tournament.

"They asked me, as captain, would I be able to speak to Mr Vardy on issues regarding his wife and I think we all knew that it was an awkward subject," he said. "I'd need to speak to Mr Vardy and ask him to speak to his wife and ask him to say to ask his wife to calm down."

Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Mrs Vardy, said: "Ask his wife to calm down? She wasn't dancing on tables."

Rooney replied: "No, she wasn't, as far as I was aware."

He told the court that he "100 per cent" had the conversation with Jamie Vardy but did not know if he then spoke to his wife.

Following questioning from Mr Tomlinson, Mr Rooney revealed he did not recall speaking with Jamie Vardy to a Sun journalist about their conversation.

"As England captain, I would always try and protect the players in public as much as I could," he said.

He later added: "Everyone knows the history between Liverpudlians and The Sun newspaper, I have never spoken to a Sun journalist on a personal level."