Wayne Rooney: ‘Sol Campbell didn’t speak to me for six months after Man Utd-Arsenal Pizzagate’

Wayne Rooney says his former England team-mate Sol Campbell went six months without speaking to him after a penalty incident between the pair in Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Arsenal during the 2004-05 season.

Arsenal, coached by Arsene Wenger, had been Premier League Invincibles the previous season, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s United snapped their 49-game unbeaten league streak in an ill-tempered victory at Old Trafford.

Ruud van Nistelrooy gave the home side the lead from the penalty spot, after Rooney went down inside the box under the challenge of Arsenal centre-back Campbell.

Rooney, who had joined United from Everton earlier that summer, then sealed the victory in the 93rd minute – on his 19th birthday.

After the game, a slice of pizza was thrown at Ferguson by then 17-year-old Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas – a chaotic moment that would go on to be dubbed as the ‘Pizzagate’.

“It was a big game for Arsenal. If they had won it, it was 50 games unbeaten for them,” said Rooney, speaking on his new BBC podcast The Wayne Rooney Show.

“We beat them 2-0 and Campbell did not speak to me for over six months.

“We met up [during international duty] and Sol won’t speak to me. Sometimes, I was with Sol and I’d say to him: ‘Come on man, we are playing for England here’.

“But he wouldn’t speak to me because he felt I dived. He left his leg out and I think there was a small contact.”