Wayne Rooney ranked Premier League player with most charity influence
Melanie May | 12 February 2020 | News
A study by Online Casinos has revealed Wayne Rooney to be the Premier League player with the biggest charity influence.
Each footballer in the Online Casinos study was awarded points based on their range of influence, including career length, media appearances and endorsements, charity work and digital presence.
Under charity influence, players were scored on their charitable contributions, as well as any coaching work, and whether or not they had a specific foundation set up in their name to help a good cause.
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Rooney scored first place across several categories – media, social media, and charity, – and also scored high results across the remainder.
SEE ALSO: Soccer AID for Unicef raises a record £13m (6 September 2021)
The top ten for charity influence is as follows:
- Wayne Rooney
- Steven Gerrard
- David James
- Teddy Sheringham
- Sylvain Distin
- Rio Ferdinand
- Sol Campbell
- Kevin Davies
- Aaron Hughes
- Michael Carrick
A representative at Online Casinos, commented on the results of the study:
“The study has highlighted that in 2020, there’s much more to being a footballer than you might think. Players at such a high level have a huge amount of pressure and more goals to score than just on the pitch. It’s great to see someone with Rooney’s status acknowledge his position and use it to give something back, building a bigger influential legacy whilst inspiring and improving the lives of children and young people across the UK.
“It’s no surprise to us that Wayne Rooney has the biggest charity influence in our study. Rooney scored first place due to his commitment across the board to giving back. He’s known for working with numerous causes, but primarily takes the lead for his Wayne Rooney Foundation. The foundation provides financial assistance to a range of registered causes – including the NSPCC, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Claire’s House Children’s Hospice – often generating money with friendly-football matches.”
More on footballers and giving to charity
- Footballers and their giving in the face of coronavirus (16 April 2020)
- England v France football match to benefit Breast Cancer Care (11 September 2015)
- David Beckham joins England players in bowel cancer awareness campaign (21 March 2017)
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.