Rooney's Story About His Childhood: Often Fights And Slaps Dad

Wayne Rooney (Instagram @waynerooney)

JAKARTA - In a new documentary, former England international Wayne Rooney talks about his difficult childhood, where he sometimes had to take slaps from his father.

Speaking candidly in the documentary which also features interviews with friends, family and teammates, Rooney reflects on his education and career.

"I used to argue a lot with my dad and he would give me a slap," Rooney said ahead of the release of the documentary Amazon Prime.

"I wasn't the best kid. I used to fight a lot when I was young."

Rooney grew up in Croxteth, an area of Liverpool that has made national headlines over drug, gun and murder cases - including in 2007 when 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead on his way home.

Rooney feels the reputation is unfair, but it was his teenage experiences that made him what he is today, himself.

"I grew up fighting for my place to play, fighting for everything," Rooney said.

"That (shadow) will never leave me. The area I grew up in, Croxteth, if you're from there, you don't think it's a cruel place."

Henry's View

One of the interviewees in the documentary Prime is Thierry Henry, who was playing in the Premier League at the same time as Rooney. He remembers well when Rooney made the breakthrough at Everton.

Against Arsenal, just 16-year-old Rooney scored his first Premier League goal, a last-minute winner that ended the Gunners' 30-game unbeaten run.

"I looked at him, I knew he wanted to destroy everything in front of him," Henry said.