Derby, DC United and Birmingham – a look at Wayne Rooney’s managerial record

Wayne Rooney’s short tenure as Birmingham manager has come to an end with his sacking on Tuesday morning.

The former England striker, who signed a three-and-a-half-year contract at St Andrew’s in October, headed into the role with a 27 per cent win rate across his first two jobs with Derby and DC United – an overall figure that has dropped to 26 per cent.

Here, the PA news agency looks at his record in detail.

Derby

Wayne Rooney suffered relegation with Derby in 2022 (Martin Rickett/PA)

Rooney moved from his playing role at Derby into the manager’s seat, initially sharing the job with Liam Rosenior, Shay Given and Justin Walker before taking sole charge.

They were bottom of the Championship at the time but climbed to 18th, eight points clear of the relegation zone, before a late-season slump saw them survive by just a point.

Their relegation the following season came after a total of 21 points were deducted – 12 for entering administration and nine for historical financial breaches.

They rallied with three successive wins in December 2021 and 10 in their final 25 games of the season and without the deductions would have finished 17th on 55 points.

He won 24, drew 22 and lost 39 of his 85 games as manager, including those with the managerial group in charge, for a 28.2 per cent win rate.

DC United

That win percentage dipped to 25.9 with DC United as Rooney was unable to make his mark as a head coach in Major League Soccer.

His side were mathematically eliminated from play-off contention in the 2023 season despite the win over New York City on October 8 that marked the end of Rooney’s reign.

Rooney’s “mutually agreed” departure came with him having been boss for the whole of that season and the last 15 of the 2022 campaign.

His final record in all competitions, including two games in the US Open Cup and three in the Leagues Cup, read won 14, drew 14, lost 26.

Birmingham

Rooney was appointed Blues boss in October on a three-and-a-half-year contract (Jacob King/PA)

Rooney was appointed as boss of Birmingham – who were taken over by United States-based Shelby Companies Limited in July and had seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady become a minority owner the following month – two days on from the sacking of John Eustace while lying sixth in the Championship table.

He spoke of the goal of promotion, but defeat in his first match, 1-0 at Middlesbrough, set the tone and another 14 games later he departs with the team languishing in 20th place.

Blues registered victories in only two of Rooney’s 15 matches, with nine losses, for a win percentage of 13.3.

That gives him an overall managerial record of 40 wins from 154 games (26 per cent), with 40 draws and 74 defeats.