Wayne Rooney's decision to stay away from management has proved to be an excellent choice

Wayne Rooney's decision to fully commit to punditry after leaving management has led to him becoming an award winner. The former Manchester United and England captain was named pundit of the year at the Broadcast Sport Awards on Thursday.

Rooney, 41, was presented with the honour in a prestigious ceremony in London in front of 650 of his peers from the sports television industry. While his punditry debut came over a decade ago while he was still playing for the Red Devils, it wasn't deemed to be his next step after retiring from football in 2021.

He became a player-manager at Derby County in 2020 before moving stateside in 2022 to take charge of MLS franchise DC United. A return to England beckoned in 2023 when he controversially replaced John Eustace at Birmingham City, but lasted just three months at St Andrew's after winning just twice in 15 matches.

In the midst of his management struggles, Rooney turned to punditry and was on hand to offer his expert analysis for the BBC at Euro 2024 and soon after the competition, he was appointed head coach at Plymouth Argyle.

Rooney's stint at Home Park - which remains his last managerial post - ended in disaster as he was sacked after leading the side to just one win in 15 Championship games. His once-promising career as a coach looked to be left in tatters as the world of punditry yet again came calling.

He began becoming a regular on Gary Neville's network, The Overlap, and inked a permanent contract with Match of the Day at the beginning of the 2025-26 Premier League season. At the time, the deal was reported to be worth £400,000 a year, although Rooney's name did not appear in the BBC's annual accounts last year which suggests it could be much less. The BBC is legally required to publish the exact salary bands of any on-air talent earning over £178,000 directly from the license fee.

Rooney has since begun a Manchester United podcast with YouTuber Mark Goldbridge for Neville's network as well as co-hosting a new BBC football trivia show called 'Can You Beat Wayne Rooney?' alongside comedian Alex Brooker.

The United icon also earned plaudits for his analysis during the World Cup 2026 for the Beeb, where he formed a formidable trio alongside former Three Lions team-mates, Joe Hart and Micah Richards.

His overwhelming success in the punditry world speaks volumes to the dedication he's shown to the craft and also left Rooney uncertain of whether he'll ever return to management. When asked if he'd make a possible return, he said earlier this year: "Probably not.

"Of course, I've never closed doors and never say never, but at the moment – where I am now, where my head space is – I wouldn't." Rooney himself admitted he was surprised about the difficulty of punditry when first entering the space and claimed he still has work to do to meet his own expectations.

After picking up his award, he revealed: "I didn't realise how tough it was going to be when I first started doing it. I've always been my own biggest critic. And even now I need to improve, I need to be better. It's a lot of hard work."