Rooney meets Francis Jeffers... “Leaving Everton Killed Me” | OneFootball

Last week's episode, as described on the BBC website: 

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Tony Abrahams 1 Posted 09/03/2026 at 07:39:45

I remember talking to Tony Grant, one night and the conversation got round to the young Wane Rooney. Tony said he still hadn’t seen him play but was adamant that there was no way that the kid could be better than Franny Jeffers.

You could tell how much Granty, loved Franny, as a footballer and I remember agreeing with him about how good I thought Franny was, because let’s face it the young Francis Jeffers, was an outstanding footballer, and definitely one of the cleverest little footballers I have had the pleasure to watch.

My own view is that the greatest skill in football is movement, and Jeffers movement was definitely top drawer, but I had to tell Granty, to hurry up and watch the kid, because Wayne Rooney, was simply out of the very highest draw possible, and was already a truly great player.

I wish we never had either of those two kids from Crocky, because the money from both their sales, kept a horrible, deceitful fraud, in charge of our football club, for way too many years, but that’s another story and has already been done to death.

I still can’t help myself because as much as I didn’t really like Anthony Gordon, that much, he was another young scouser that was abused to death by the Evertonians, even though it was clear to see that Everton, had to sell the kid, because they were in massive financial trouble, and it was clear that the club had already decided to sell all three of those young scousers, no matter what.

Ian Bennett 2 Posted 09/03/2026 at 08:07:20

A missed opportunity with both of them sadly. Could you imagine the pair of them together? Deary me.

Dave Abrahams 3 Posted 09/03/2026 at 09:41:04

Tony I think that Gordon while always potentially very good wasn’t really doing it at Everton, Benitez— yes Benitez, was the one that got him going, taking him off at OldTrafford when he was a having a good game and explaining that the lad couldn’t last 90 minutes, he started improving but lacked maturity on the field.

Since he moved to Newcastle that potential has blossomed and Newcastle will not be his last move, other clubs have their eye on him including his boyhood club.

Rooney was a one off sensation, Frannie loved Everton but money talked to both sides Kenwright to help keep his train set and Frannie got a great deal off Arsenal.

Possibly Harrison Armstrong will get the Scouse flag rising again along with Everton’s banners.

John Collins 4 Posted 09/03/2026 at 09:53:11

For me,the worse part of the sale of Rooney,engineered by the snake oil salesman,was the deceitful way he swung the blame onto an 18 year old kid.

Wayne is still hated by a few Evertonians that don't know the full story.

Dave Abrahams 5 Posted 09/03/2026 at 11:00:29

John (4) Strangely enough Frannie didn’t have a bad word to say about Kenwright when I had a chat to him in The Hare and Hounds last year, maybe because Kenwright took him back for a loan spell after his Arsenal period never paid off!

John Collins 6 Posted 09/03/2026 at 11:08:20

Very good of the greatest ever Blue to take a £10 million sale back on loan Dave.

He had a good heart Bill,one of us.

Rob Dolby 7 Posted 09/03/2026 at 13:28:36

Jeffers couldn't wait to leave. 3 transfer requests before he got his move to Arsenal. Big time Charlie who looked like a child playing in a great Arsenal team.

For his own career he should have stayed with the blues and learnt more from Kevin Campbell before moving on when he was ready.

He was definitely the fox in the box and knew how to finish. Maybe badly advised? But another one who we never had the pleasure of watching more of.

As a fan I would have loved to have watched more of Kenny, Jeffers, Rooney and Gordon. As said above 3 of them sold off to balance the books and sod the fans whilst Kenny should have been looked after better at the club rather than his no mark mates.

Shaun Parker 8 Posted 09/03/2026 at 16:25:20

Why have we got an Ex Man Utd player on here talking about anything 🤷‍♂️

Rooney couldn’t get out the door quick enough. Jeffers thought he was bigger, better than what he was.

Who gives a flying fook about either of them. I’d prefer to read about Everton players not kiss the badge no marks.

Shaun Parker 10 Posted 09/03/2026 at 18:34:00

The bloke is desperate to be seen as an Everton great #9 Frank. He never will be, he should go over to the utd site and post his podcasts there. Nobody cares what he has to say on here.

David West 11 Posted 09/03/2026 at 18:52:50

Look what rooney went on to achieve !

Would he have got there staying here at Everton and in the city ?

I very much doubt it !

The thoughts I have are that he could have been Messi, Ronaldo level if he was more professional, and didn't have all the off field shenanigans going on.

Leaving Everton was inevitable !

Yes he would sill have earned a massive wage, but who could deny what I believe is the best football player England have ever produced to go and win titles, trophies, and riches that go with it.

Yes we would have loved him staying here at his peak, and who knows what might have been with wayne staying, he was too good for us at that time, like all truly world class players in the modern game they want and should be on the biggest stages !

Darren Hind 12 Posted 09/03/2026 at 19:23:18

He may not have won as much David, but a trophy for Everton would have meant so much more to him.

There was a brief window in time when I thought an Everton team with Rooney in it, would have been better than the Man United team without him.

I felt Pienaar Baines,Ossie, Arteta, cahill etc were only ever a Wayne Rooney away from winning silverware.

Dave Abrahams 13 Posted 09/03/2026 at 19:30:25

Shaun (10) I don’t think Rooney is desperate to be seen as an Everton great, never met the lad bit I doubt he has the ego to be great in any one’s eyes, he is entitled to be given thanks for the fact he saved the club from possibly going bankrupt for the fee we received from Unt. but was left to be the culprit by leaving as was Jeffers when it was obvious that the club was desperate for the fees we got for both of them along with Rodwell’s and Lescott’s.

Paul Hewitt 14 Posted 09/03/2026 at 19:43:44

Let's not forget this top Everton fan kissed the united badge when he scored at Goodison.

Shaun Parker 15 Posted 09/03/2026 at 19:55:58

Dave #13 - utter tripe mate.

Paul #14 - well said indeed.

Darren #12 - those were the real Everton players: Pienaar, Baines, Osman. Cahill, Jagielka. Proper players.

Liam Mogan 16 Posted 09/03/2026 at 20:19:27

He wasn't even that good, Franny Jeffers. Scored a few in his breakthrough years but was a flash in the pan. Opponents soon worked him out.

40 senior level goals in his whole career. Didn't Rooney score that many in one season once?

Tony Abrahams 17 Posted 09/03/2026 at 20:21:39

I loved watching Pienaar, thought Baines, was a very good player, but only Timmy Cahill, had that real winning attitude out of the players mentioned, imo.

Rooney, had it in spades, the little scouse bastard, didn't give a flying fuck for anyone when he was out on the football pitch, and although I'm sure he regretted kissing the United badge, the kid had balls, and was an out and out winner.

Everton haven't had a real winning mentality since Joe Royle left, and then it got a lot worse on Boxing Day 1999, when the second rate actor purchased Everton.

A second rate actor kidded thousands of Evertonians, he allegedly phoned his mother crying, telling her United, had robbed the boy, what a fucking fraud, and still we haven't regained our winning mentality, 31 years fucking later.

Tony Abrahams 18 Posted 09/03/2026 at 20:30:51

I still haven't seen a young player with movement as good as Franny Jeffers, Liam. I loved watching him play. I still remember his lovely little reverse pass for Kevin Campbell at Anfield.

Also, the way he used to bend his run, or find that little bit of space that enabled him to peel away and then find the shortest route towards his opponent's goal.

He left too early, and wasn't ready to replace players like Henry, Wright, and Bergkamp (not many forwards in world football could have replaced those three in an Arsenal shirt).

He was another very good young player who was allowed to leave because of the circumstances around having a conman owner.

Tony Hughes 19 Posted 09/03/2026 at 20:37:33

I never held it against Rooney leaving, he went on to have a trophy laden, stellar career -- something he wouldn't have had with us.

We were treading water as a club back then without ambition. (Has much changed?) Let's hope times are changing, for too long mid-table mediocrity has subconsciously been accepted at our club.

Ambition isn't a dirty word... what's our motto again??

Liam Mogan 20 Posted 09/03/2026 at 20:37:43

He must have lost that movement pretty sharpish, Tony, as after he left us, he just shot blanks.

Liam Mogan 21 Posted 09/03/2026 at 20:40:57

I never understood the vitriol towards Rooney.

Take away your fan mindset and if your lad was as good as he was then surely your telling him to go to a club competing at the very top?

Otherwise, you end up like Matt Le Tissier or Alan Shearer, a local hero with very little to show for it.

Tony Hughes 22 Posted 09/03/2026 at 20:41:59

Two up front back then produced some great partnerships when you had two players come together who complemented each other.

Kev Campbell brought out the best in Jeffers

Les Callan 23 Posted 09/03/2026 at 20:44:16

Can't get away from it lads, however much you dislike it: Rooney was a great player…

And he played in the Royal Blue jersey. I'll never forget those two wonderful goals he scored, one v Arsenal, the other against West Ham.

Dave Abrahams 24 Posted 09/03/2026 at 21:20:40

Shaun (15) Utter tripe yeh very good.

I remember when Wayne came back in one of his games for Man Utd... he went past two Everton players and hit a terrific shot which just went over the bar.

I applauded the effort as I usually do, no matter if from us or an opponent — a big divvie ran down from about 6 rows behind me screaming with his veins sticking out of his neck “What are applauding that bastard for!!??"

I looked up at him and told him, “I wish we had another 10 bastards like him!” He glared and went back to his seat.

If you don't understand the situation Rooney was in then — even now it's you who is talking tripe and the players you mentioned I appreciated but each of them would recognise how far Wayne was ahead of them and they would acknowledge that absolute fact.

I don't think I'll ever get over the way Rooney was ripped out of this club.

I spent the next 10 years hoping he'd fall over, balloon it over the bar, whatever. He could not have handled it worse. Effectively stuck two fingers up to the fans, no explanation given, just "I'm big enough and strong enough to deal with it".

Nobody expected him to stay with Everton his whole career, But he could not have left in a worse manner. Spirited out in the boot of a car by Stubbs and his agent, and then popping up at Old Trafford. I still can't bear thinking about it. And those awful fans with their signs: 'Siralex, pleez will ya sign Wayne Rooneh'

He never pushed on Liam, maybe he was just simply too young for such a star studded team, maybe he was a little bit star-struck, and maybe he was 100% correct about football, being all about different levels, mate?

Young players have got to play. It’s no good playing in the premier league for one team but then signing for another team and being way down the pecking order, because although it would have been great to share a training ground with so many great players, you’re simply not going to improve if you aren’t playing enough.

Jeffers went backwards, he probably lost his hunger as well as his mojo, because he wasn’t quite ready to play for the best team in the country, and nowhere near filled his potential after that.

It’s probably a good reason why Delap, should have signed for Everton, rather than Chelsea, especially when you consider how much patience the player we signed instead, Barry, has been given?