Shaun Antony Rooney (born 26 July 1996) is a Scottish 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 ...

who plays as a defender for

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed ...

. He has previously played for Queen's Park,

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish Association football, football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Champ ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

, Queen of the South,

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

and

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

Career

Queen's Park

Rooney was born in

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton to the southwest, Viewpark to the w ...

, North Lanarkshire. He started his career playing youth football with Bellshill Boys Club and

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in ...

, before signing with

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

club Queen's Park in July 2013. Rooney's first-team debut came shortly after signing for the club, in a

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname i ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

. During the 2013–14 season, Rooney made 11 appearances for Queen's Park. His breakthrough season came in 2014–15, when he played in 30 matches, scoring his first goal on 15 November 2014 with a header against

Elgin City Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray. Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...

in a 4–1 win. Rooney's impressive performances for Queen's Park saw him awarded the club's Young Player of the Year and also being named in the PFA Scotland Scottish League Two Team of the Year.

Dunfermline Athletic

The start of 2015–16 saw Rooney go on trial with both Hearts and St Mirren, however it was

that he eventually signed with. Rooney appeared initially on trial with Dunfermline in August 2015 and was a named substitute against

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census ...

and Stranraer, replacing Lewis Martin in defence against Stranraer. His debut after signing for the club came as a first half substitute against Ayr United, replacing

Callum Fordyce Callum Fordyce (born 23 June 1992) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back, and is a player-assistant manager for Airdrieonians. Fordyce started his career as a youth player with Hibernian and Livingston, before signi ...

after the Dunfermline

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

was injured. Rooney's first goal for Dunfermline came against

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nea ...

in December 2015, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory at

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship si ...

. He made 14 appearances and scored one goal as Dunfermline won the Scottish League One title in 2015–16.

York City

Rooney joined newly relegated

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

club

on 23 May 2016 on a two-year contract. On 21 May 2017, Rooney came on as a 75th-minute substitute as York beat

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and ...

3–2 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in the

2017 FA Trophy Final The 2016–17 FA Trophy Final was the 48th final of the Football Association's cup competition for teams at levels 5–8 of the English football league system. The match was contested between Macclesfield Town and York City. The final of the FA ...

. Rooney completed 2016–17 with 38 appearances and one goal in all competitions while York were relegated to the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

with a 21st-place finish in the table.

Queen of the South

Rooney signed for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

club Queen of the South on 9 June 2017 on a one-year contract.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

On 25 April 2018, Rooney signed a pre-contract agreement to join Scottish Championship club

on 1 June 2018 upon the expiration of his contract at Queen of the South. He made his debut on 14 July, starting in a 2–0 home win over

Cove Rangers Cove Rangers Football Club is a senior Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Championship. They are based in the Cove Bay area of Aberdeen and play their football at Balmoral Stadium, having left their former home at All ...

in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in exist ...

. He scored his first goal for Inverness on 1 September with a 51st-minute header from Tom Walsh's cross in a 3–0 away win over Dunfermline in the league.

St Johnstone

In June 2020, Rooney moved to

on a two-year deal, having signed a pre-contract earlier in the year. On 28 February 2021 he scored the winning goal as St Johnstone beat

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

1–0 in the 2021 Scottish League Cup Final. On 22 May 2021, through a header in the 32nd minute Rooney scored the only goal of the

2021 Scottish Cup Final The 2021 Scottish Cup Final was the 136th final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2020–21 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match was played on 22 May 2021 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. St Jo ...

against Hibernian as St Johnstone won 1–0 at Hampden Park to complete a historic cup

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

, becoming the fifth player in the 21st century to score in both cup finals in the same season.

Fleetwood Town

Rooney signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

on 25 May 2022 on a two-year contract.

Personal life

His great-uncle

Benny Rooney Bernard Rooney (3 May 1943 – 28 July 2023) was a Scottish football player and manager. Playing career Rooney played for Celtic as a youth and was a contemporary of the group of players who would form the core of their Lisbon Lions team, but ...

was also a footballer, mainly with St Johnstone, and his great-grandfather Bob also played but was better known as a physiotherapist at

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

Career statistics

Honours

Dunfermline Athletic *

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

: 2015–16 York City *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

: 2016–17 St Johnstone *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual *

PFA Scotland Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland Team of the Year (often called the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the four national tiers of the Scottish foo ...

2014–15 Scottish League Two The 2014–15 Scottish League Two is the 20th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth tier of Scottish football. The last placed team entered a play-off with the winners of the Highland League (Brora Rangers) and Lowland League ( Ed ...

*Queen's Park Young Player of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

Profile
at the Fleetwood Town F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Rooney, Shaun 1996 births Living people Footballers from Bellshill Scottish footballers Association football defenders Dundee United F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players York City F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players National League (English football) players English Football League players