In light of his two-year driving ban following his drink-driving charge, Wayne Rooney is being made fun of on Twitter – all thanks to a tweeting faux pas he made six years ago.
Back in 2011, in what has become an in-joke among football fans, Wayne – who had just joined Twitter that day – tweeted his then Manchester United team mate Rio Ferdinand, with the now infamous message: “Hi rio do u want picking up in the morning pal”.
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It appeared, as an inexperienced Twitter user, Wayne had actually meant to message his team mate directly to innocently offer him a lift – rather than publishing it to the world.
At the time, fans mocked the tweet because of Wayne’s mistake, retweeting it over 50,000 times and liking it over 40,000.
However, it now has a new relevance given Wayne’s driving ban – and fans have dug up the 2011 tweet to make fun of it once again.
One Twitter user satirised the previous tweet, tagging Wayne and asking him if he would like a lift (in light of the fact he could no longer drive himself!): ”
Another jokingly suggested Rio should tweet his team mate back, returning the offer of a lift.
Since the verdict this morning, Wayne Rooney has understandably been taking things more seriously. In a statement on his website, www.officialwaynerooney.com, he wrote:
“Following today’s court hearing I want publicly to apologise for my unforgiveable lack of judgement in driving while over the legal limit. It was completely wrong.
“I have already said sorry to my family, my manager and chairman and everyone at Everton FC. Now I want to apologise to all the fans and everyone else who has followed and supported me throughout my career.”
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“Of course I accept the sentence of the court and hope that I can make some amends through my community service.”
There is also speculation Wayne’s marriage is on the rocks, after his wife Coleen has been spotted without her wedding ring.
Wayne – who has been unfaithful in the past – was driving the VW Beetle car of Laura Simpson, a 29-year-old office worker, who was with him at the time, travelling to her house – leading to cheating rumours.