Former Everton forward Wayne Rooney has finally shed some light on Francis Jeffers’ involvement in that ‘Once a Blue, always a Blue’ t-shirt.
The England legend has now revealed that the celebration at Goodison Park was a result of Jeffers’ departure to Arsenal back in 2001.
Having scored in the FA Youth Cup in the following year, Rooney celebrated by unveiling the hidden message under his Everton shirt.
Rooney has hailed Duncan Ferguson as his Everton hero in the past, but the 40-year-old has now shared how he also idolised Jeffers.
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However, the Everton academy product has claimed that Jeffers is the reason he tried to endear himself with the Goodison Park fans right from the start.
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Wayne Rooney shares Francis Jeffers inspiration behind iconic Everton celebration
Rooney admitted his second Everton exit disappointed him, with the way in which the club generate his exit.
This is the club which Rooney supported growing up, but even he can see the irony in his infamous celebration from 2002.
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Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, the man himself admitted to Jeffers how his departure to Arsenal as the inspiration behind the celebration.
“Franny was who I looked up to really,” said Rooney.
“Obviously being from Croxteth, he got into Everton’s first team. So watching him, he’s someone who I wanted to emulate and I’m going to try and do the same thing.
“And actually he was the reason I wore the t-shirt ‘once a blue always a blue’ when he left us for Arsenal and then obviously I did the same thing a few years later.”
Jeffers never hit the heights at Arsenal having left Everton on the back of scoring six goals in 12 appearances in the 2000/01 season.
History repeated itself between Jeffers’ and Rooney’s exits
There is a lot of irony in how Rooney attempted to make a name for himself with the Everton fans by using that celebration.
The Everton youngster wanted to prove to the fans at Goodison Park that he was the new homegrown talent in L4 and he should receive their support.
Just years later, Rooney did exactly the same to those fans as Jeffers had done to inspire his celebration.
The forward was welcomed back to Goodison Park, with Rooney holding his Everton hat-trick among his best moments in his career.
However, the irony of his celebration clearly isn’t lost on him.
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