Rooney's hilarious reason he remembers St Andrew's red and is learning Birmingham anthem

The Manchester United and England legend was confirmed as Birmingham City manager on Wednesday, following the sacking of former boss John Eustace and Rooney's departure from DC United last week.

Rooney will be hoping to continue on Eustace's strong start to the campaign, with the Blues sitting in the Championship play-off places in sixth.

But before the former Everton star even takes to his new dug out, he's already got one memory at St Andrews' that will always stand out when he looks back on his career. However, it's not for the reasons you might expect...

Rooney earned his first ever red card at Birmingham during the Toffees' visit there in 2002. Despite 21 years going by, the former England captain admitted he deserved to be sent for an early bath.

Speaking to talkSPORT following his appointment, Rooney said: "Yeah, it was a bad one! I remember coming on after 60 minutes, I over-ran and Steve Vickers was coming out and I've lunged out. It was a red card.

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"When I walked down the tunnel after I got sent off it was freezing!" he laughed. "I always remember it."

Aside from remembering the bitter winter temperatures at Christmas time, Rooney also saw first hand how tough a place St Andrews is to go when he was given his marching orders. However, now returning there as their manager, he's hoping the fans will continue to bring that kind of atmosphere.

"I've played there quite a few times and it's always been a hostile place," he continued. "Obviously with Manchester United coming there, it was always a hostile place to play.

"I'm enjoying to get to the know the fans, the fans getting to know me, my character and how I want to play and I want to make this a difficult place to come."

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Another key part of any Birmingham fan's match day rituals is singing the club's anthem, Keep Right On.

But has Rooney got to grips with the iconic tune yet?

"Yeah, a bit!" Rooney smiled. "I'll get there. It's certainly, when the fans sing that all together, it can inspire the team here but also away from home as well with the away fans singing it at someone else's stadium.

"It's a great chant, I will learn the song, but I'm not singing it for you now!"

Another key part of any Birmingham fan's match day rituals is singing the club's anthem, Keep Right On.

But has Rooney got to grips with the iconic tune yet?

"Yeah, a bit!" Rooney smiled. "I'll get there. It's certainly, when the fans sing that all together, it can inspire the team here but also away from home as well with the away fans singing it at someone else's stadium.

"It's a great chant, I will learn the song, but I'm not singing it for you now!"

talkSPORT recently revealed Rooney was on the Championship club's radar. But despite the appointment coming just days after his DC United exit, Rooney revealed it wasn't just Birmingham that were keen on bringing him in.

Opening up on why he chose to come to St Andrew's, he said: "Obviously speaking to the club and the ambitions of the club and to be honest over the last four to six weeks we've had quite a few clubs on asking me to come in.

"But speaking to Birmingham was different, just in terms of new owners coming in and what they're trying to build, I felt was a real import of excitement that I wanted to be a part of."

"I think [Eustace has] left the club in a good place. I think obviously stabilising the club and keeping them up last season," he continued.

"The start of the season has been good and then obviously when the club came on to me and asked me if I was interested in taking over then. After speaking to them it was pretty clear I wanted to do that.

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"I think it's a really exciting time for the club, it's been left in a good place and now it's on me to take it forward. My style of play is a little bit different to John's but it's on me to make sure to get that worked into the players so they understand that."

Rooney's first game in charge will see him go up against his former Manchester United and England teammate Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough on Saturday 21 October.