Ex-Linfield man Louis Rooney determined to ressurect career after injury woe

The 24-year-old’s career has been dogged by setbacks up to this point, including during a spell in Northern Ireland, which got off to the perfect start after netting an eight-minute hat-trick on his Linfield debut against Lisburn Distillery.

Rooney progressed through the academy at Plymouth Argyle and announced himself in League Two by scoring twice in their final game of the season against Hartlepool in 2016, including a 25-yard strike which was named as the club’s ‘Goal of the Season’.

The striker was released from his contract at the end of the 2016/17 season and with a family connection to Linfield, it was a no-brainer for Rooney to make the move to Belfast when manager David Healy got in touch.

“David contacted my agent and at the time I was getting messed about a bit back home with clubs,” he said.

“I would be waiting to sign for a club and then it would fall through so my head was a bit all over the place.

“David got in contact with me too and it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.

“My dad is from Belfast and he was a Linfield fan when he was there so it was something I couldn’t say no to.

“I was fully aware of the expectations to be winning things.

“I knew there was a lot of pressure to go over there and perform.”

As a striker learning their game, the opportunity to work with Healy, who scored 36 international goals and had played at the highest level, was one that Rooney embraced.

“He’s an absolute legend so it’s hard not to want to go over and work with someone like him,” he added.

“I couldn’t stop listening to him. He fed on a lot of information to me and in training there was a lot of one-to-one stuff. He’s a brilliant manager.”

Linfield struggled during the 2017/18 campaign, finishing in fourth place and 24 points adrift of champions Crusaders while a hamstring injury stopped Rooney from playing as big of a role as he would have wished.

Since then, Linfield have won consecutive league titles and Rooney, who still has goal notifications turned on for their games, is delighted to see the club back where he believes they belong.

“It’s a tough one because as a club the year wasn’t great in regards of not winning anything and we didn’t qualify for Europe,” he said.

“It was a disappointing year and we could only really blame ourselves because we were nowhere near as good as they were in previous seasons.

“The way they have gone on from there is great and they are doing well now.

“For me, it started off brilliantly and I did get opportunities so I can’t complain about that.

“I did chip in with goals but as a whole, it was quite a gutting experience.

“I went over there wanting to win things and that wasn’t the case in the end.

“I was offered a few options to come back home and it was a tough situation.

“It came to the point where it was best for me to head back to England and I wanted to get back into full-time football.

“I know it sounds like one of those classic stories when they say injury stopped me from doing this and that, but sadly the case for me is that too many injuries held me back. It was the same when I was over there.

“I ended up pulling my hamstring and then somehow pulling the other hamstring as well so it gave me a major setback when I was playing for Linfield.”

Rooney, who also represented Northern Ireland U21’s in a 1-0 defeat to Iceland, tore his ACL in December 2019 while playing for current club Truro City and a mix of recovery and league suspensions has resulted in over a year away from the game.

He had previously spent a loan spell with the Southern Premier Division South outfit, who sat top of the league when last season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, while on the books at Plymouth and his brother Daniel is also at the club.

There is a slightly different approach to football now as he is also in full-time employment, which has allowed Rooney to experience a different side of life.

“I’ve been at Truro for the past couple of seasons but injuries have been an absolute nightmare for me,” he added.

“I’ve got myself another job here working in the dockyard on the ships, so I’m experiencing full-time working life alongside trying to keep on top of the football.

“It’ll always be something I miss and I can never turn around and say there’s no way of me going back into full-time football.

“I would be a fool if I ever said that because I do miss it.

“At this moment in time, I’m quite steady with the way I’m balancing football and a full-time job.”

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