Plymouth scrap Wayne Rooney documentary after sacking manager

01/03/2025 06:39 AM

Plymouth Argyle have reportedly abandoned plans to make a documentary about their season after sacking Wayne Rooney as manager.

The Pilgrims parted company with the Manchester United legend on New Year’s Eve after a nine-game winless run which left them rooted to the foot of the Championship table.

Rooney‘s time at Home Park comes to an end after just seven months in charge, having been appointed in May, and it’s fair to say much more was expected of his tenure.

So much so in fact, that Plymouth signed off on a fly-on-the-wall documentary following their season and Rooney.

The project was announced in November, with filming beginning a month prior, and is understood to have been driven by the 39-year-old and his advisers.

Plymouth had hoped to net a windfall by selling the series to a streaming service and raise their profile, in a similar way to the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Wrexham, who have all previously been the subject of similar-style documentaries.

It is understood the documentary was expected to air in the summer, following this season’s conclusion.

However, the Guardian has now reported these plans have been scrapped following Rooney’s departure.

Filming had initially been put on hold during Plymouth’s current winless run, amid concerns that it could become a distraction.

Footage from within the club’s Harpers Park training ground was first captured in October, but camera crews were only given access to two Championship games before being told to take a break.

Rooney has close links with the documentary’s production company, Lorton Entertainment, who made the feature-length programme ‘Rooney’, which aired on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.

They are also behind ‘Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story’, which took a deep dive into the high-profile legal battle between Rooney’s wife Coleen and Rebekah Vardy, wife of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy.

But the former England captain was eventually dismissed just seven months into his three-year contract, and now the documentary will not happen.

Plymouth are without a win since beating Portsmouth on November 5, and are yet to record a single victory away from home this season.

Rooney oversaw several damaging defeats, including a 6-1 thrashing at Norwich, a 5-0 drubbing at Cardiff and a 4-0 defeat at Coventry on Boxing Day.

His final game in charge was a 2-0 loss away to Oxford, which left the club on 18 points from just 23 games, and four points from safety.

Despite a difficult spell at the club, Rooney paid tribute to Plymouth for giving him the job after his departure was announced.

In statement, he said Argle would always have a ‘special place in my heart’ and thanked the fans for making home games ‘memories that we will share forever’.

First-team coach Kevin Nancekivell and club captain Joe Edwards took temporary charge of Plymouth in their first game since Rooney’s exit, which ended in a 2-2 draw with Bristol City on New Year’s Day.

The pair are not seen as candidates for the permanent job, though.

Former manager, Stephen Schumacher, who oversaw Plymouth’s promotion to the Championship in 2023, has been tipped for a return to Home Park after being sacked by Stoke in September.