Jake Richard Rooney (born 22 August 2003) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for club

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. Rooney spent time in the academies at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, before signing with Derby County's under-21 in August 2022, he would make his league debut for

in November 2022, in July 2023 Rooney signed a three-year contract at Derby, in August 2023, Rooney picked out an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

which left him on the sidelines for a year.

Personal life

Rooney is a cousin of former player and former

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

manager

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

as well as

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

midfielder John Rooney.

Career

Youth career

Rooney joined the

academy at age 14, after leaving

following the closure of their academy.

Derby County

He joined

on 8 August 2022, following a trial period with the club, and made his debut the following day, playing 63 minutes of Derby's 2–1

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

first round win at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. Rooney would make his first league appearance in a 3–1 win at

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

on 14 November 2022, playing the entire 90 minutes. Rooney would feature in the majority of first team matchday squads during the season as he made a total 18 appearances during his first season with the club. On 11 July 2023 it was announced that Rooney had signed a three-year contract extension, extending his stay at Derby until June 2026. At the start of the 2023–24 season, Rooney would feature as an unused substitute in Derby's opening four games of the season, but after injuries to Joe Ward and

Kane Wilson Kane Leo Wilson (born 11 March 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Derby County. Wilson joined the West Bromwich Albion aged 7, and would make his first and only appearance for the first team in 2016, ...

, Rooney would start the next three games at right-back, in the third of these games against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

on 2 September Rooney was substituted off after 14 after a serious looking injury. He underwent a scan to check the severity of the injury, on 6 September 2023 the scan results confirmed

damage in his right knee, with the 20-year old defender expected to be sidelined for a "significant period". In a February 2024 interview to the ''

Derby Telegraph The ''Derby Telegraph'', formerly the ''Derby Evening Telegraph'', is a daily tabloid newspaper distributed in the Derby area of England. Stories produced by the ''Derby Telegraph'' team are published online under the Derbyshire Live brand. Hi ...

'', Rooney thanked the support of the club, his teammates and family during his recovery and took up his hobby of playing the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

during his rehab, which was said to be going "better than expected" with a return to training before the end of the season possible. Rooney did not feature in any further games for Derby in 2023–24; he made a total of three appearances for Derby during the season, as they secured promotion to the Championship. Rooney returned to action in a 2024–25 pre-season friendly against

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was esta ...

on 12 July 2024. However just a week later in a pre-season training camp in Spain, Rooney picked up another knee injury which is expected to rule him out for the first four months of the season.

Career statistics

Honours

Derby County *

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

second-place promotion: 2023–24

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooney, Jake 2003 births Living people English men's footballers Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Men's association football defenders

Jake Jake may refer to: Name * Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer * Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach * Jake, a member of the band Enhy ...

Footballers from Liverpool English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen