"I wouldn't really feel comfortable accepting another Premier League medal," Wayne Rooney said on the Stick To United podcast, after reporting that Manchester City were guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League reopened the debate. Rooney added that Manchester United did not do enough in the 2011-12 season to win it on merit.
Rooney's view on the 2011-12 title
Rooney was direct about where he stands. "I don't think we deserve it, we didn't do enough that season to win the championship," he said to A Bola, in comments translated from Portuguese.
He pointed to the gap United had built late on. Rooney said they had six or seven points of advantage with four or five games left before they threw it away. That is the part that explains why he has no appetite for a medal handed down after the fact.
United's finish that season still hangs over the argument. Manchester United beat Sunderland 1-0 with a header from Rooney on the final day, while City were trailing 2-1 at home to QPR before Edin Dzeko equalised. Sergio Aguero then completed the turnaround that handed the title to City.
Rooney said he would not want the medal even if it were available. "I'm happy with the five I won. I wouldn't want this one," he said.
The players caught in the middle
Rooney also made space for the City players who won the title on the pitch. "They are players, they do everything they can to try to win the Premier League title and in their minds they achieved it," he said.
He added that if those players had no knowledge of what was going on above them, they would be "absolutely devastated". R. Ferdinand was the player Rooney referred to when he said he had heard talk about getting another Premier League medal.
The debate is still live, and Rooney's stance is clear enough. He does not want United to inherit a title they did not finish first in, and he would rather keep the five medals he already has.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
