Rooney gran says stop picking on Wayne

Wayne Rooney’s grandmother has written a letter criticising the media’s hounding of the England International striker, it emerged today.

Pat Morrey, 74, wrote a letter to the Liverpool Echo in which she defended the 19-year-old and urged people to see his “good side”.

She slammed national press coverage for “picking on” the Manchester United player, claiming he gets “singled out for bad treatment”.

The letter follows reports earlier this month that Rooney was dropped from a schools Football Association match after officials ruled he was not a good role model for youngsters.

Mrs Morrey, who lives in Croxteth, Liverpool, with her husband Bill, said the press ignored her grandson’s charity work and only focused on the negative side.

In the letter to the Echo, she said: “Wayne isn’t as bad as people make out. There’s a lot of goodness in my grandson.

“OK, he gets angry on the football field, but he’s a very shy person when you meet him and he never swears in front of his family.

“There are many football players that swear, but the cameras always zoom in on him. Why can’t people see the good side of my grandson?”

She ended the note: “So please find the good in my grandson instead of pulling him down,” before signing off “his loving Grandma”.

Rooney was criticised for swearing during a crucial Premiership clash against Arsenal and was last year forced to apologise to fiancee Coleen McLoughlin after he admitted visiting prostitutes.