Wayne Rooney makes knighthood request as England icon's thoughts clear

England and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has made a knighthood plea to King Charles

Wayne Rooney has urged for snooker icon Ronnie O'Sullivan to be awarded a knighthood. The ex-England skipper made his appeal to King Charles when asked to name his top five sporting legends of all time, with 'The Rocket' claiming the number one spot.

O'Sullivan has been synonymous with elite snooker for decades, winning a joint-record seven world championships. The 50-year-old secured his maiden world crown 25 years ago and has amassed an extraordinary 23 Triple Crown triumphs, more than any other player.

Rooney enjoyed a distinguished career himself, becoming Manchester United's record goalscorer and previously holding the same distinction for England. Despite being a prolific winner throughout his time at Old Trafford, Rooney confessed to being mesmerised by O'Sullivan's excellence and reckons the snooker great has earned a knighthood.

"In my opinion, he should be Sir Ronnie O'Sullivan," he said on The Wayne Rooney Show. "He should be knighted. He should, maybe [it's] because he's controversial.

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"We're seeing all these MBEs, OBEs, people getting knighted for different things. Some rightly, some wrongly, in my opinion.

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"Ronnie O'Sullivan, for what he's done for snooker and the titles he's won, going over to different countries as well doing it, he should be knighted. Maybe he doesn't fit."

O'Sullivan has claimed 41 ranking titles and continues to rewrite the record books. During the World Open last month, he produced the sport's highest-ever break with a 153, surpassing the standard 147 maximum, after capitalising on an early free ball.

Rooney hailed the seven-time world champion as the greatest sporting figure of all time, though he deliberately chose to exclude footballers from his rankings. The 40-year-old placed US sporting icons Tom Brady and Michael Jordan joint-fifth, followed by tennis great Serena Williams, boxing legend Mike Tyson and golf superstar Tiger Woods in the runner-up spot. Yet O'Sullivan stands in a class of his own, according to the United icon.

"My number one is, it's controversial but, for me, I absolutely love him, it's Ronnie O'Sullivan," Rooney explained. "I love snooker, I've always loved snooker.

"In snooker, you've had some absolute legends. Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry, absolute legends in snooker - but Ronnie O'Sullivan comes along and just how he plays the game, left-hand, right-hand, taking risks.

"There was the one where he was on a 147 and he missed the black on purpose to make a point about the money the snooker players were getting paid, that it should be more to get a 147. His interviews are brilliant. He's got a charisma, an aura about him and recently he's just got a 153, the highest-ever."

O'Sullivan is due to compete in the 2026 World Snooker Championship later this month and goes into the tournament as the 12th seed. His last world title victory came in 2022, when he beat Judd Trump 18-13 in the final.

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