# Jake Rooney

Jake Richard Rooney (born 22 August 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL Championship club Derby County.
Rooney spent time in the academies at Tranmere Rovers and Burnley, before signing with Derby County's under-21 in August 2022, he would make his league debut for Derby County in November 2022, in July 2023 Rooney signed a three-year contract at Derby, in August 2023, Rooney picked out an anterior cruciate ligament which left him on the sidelines for a year.

## Personal life

Rooney is a cousin of former player and former Plymouth Argyle manager Wayne Rooney as well as Macclesfield midfielder John Rooney.

## Career
### Youth career

Rooney joined the Burnley academy at age 14, after leaving Tranmere Rovers following the closure of their academy.

### Derby County

He joined Derby County on 8 August 2022, following a trial period with the club, and made his debut the following day, playing 63 minutes of Derby's 2–1 EFL Cup first round win at Mansfield Town. Rooney would make his first league appearance in a 3–1 win at Milton Keynes Dons on 14 November 2022, playing the entire 90 minutes. Rooney would feature in the majority of first team matchday squads during the season as he made a total 18 appearances during his first season with the club.
On 11 July 2023 it was announced that Rooney had signed a three-year contract extension, extending his stay at Derby until June 2026. At the start of the 2023–24 season, Rooney would feature as an unused substitute in Derby's opening four games of the season, but after injuries to Joe Ward and Kane Wilson, Rooney would start the next three games at right-back, in the third of these games against Bolton Wanderers on 2 September Rooney was substituted off after 14 after a serious looking injury. He underwent a scan to check the severity of the injury, on 6 September 2023 the scan results confirmed anterior cruciate ligament damage in his right knee, with the 20-year old defender expected to be sidelined for a "significant period". In a February 2024 interview to the Derby Telegraph, Rooney thanked the support of the club, his teammates and family during his recovery and took up his hobby of playing the guitar during his rehab, which was said to be going "better than expected" with a return to training before the end of the season possible. Rooney did not feature in any further games for Derby in 2023–24; he made a total of three appearances for Derby during the season, as they secured promotion to the Championship.
Rooney returned to action in a 2024–25 pre-season friendly against Matlock Town on 12 July 2024. However just a week later in a pre-season training camp in Spain, Rooney picked up another knee injury which is expected to rule him out for the first four months of the season.

## Career statistics

    As of match played 2 September 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Derby County | 2022–23 | League One | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Derby County | 2023–24 | League One | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Derby County | 2024–25 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
* ↑ Appearances in EFL Trophy

## Honours

Derby County
* EFL League One second-place promotion: 2023–24