'I was doing cartwheels in the sea!'

Any Reds frustrated at having to wait almost a month for the teenage tyro Wayne Rooney to appear for United for the first time were left fully sated, after a night for the ages at Old Trafford.

The 18-year-old well and truly put Turkish champions Fenerbahce to the sword, netting a hat-trick inside an hour as we prevailed 6-2 in the Champions League group-stage clash.

All three were brilliant goals and it was the first time in 99 years a United player had scored a treble on their debut, with Charles Sagar the only other man to achieve the feat, back in 1905.

Here, three lifelong Reds share their memories of our leading scorer's early years here and their thoughts and feelings when they discovered he would be playing his club football at Old Trafford...

MATT BURGESS

The summer of 2004 will always stick in my mind as a Red. I was born in 1993.

My dad had been a massive Manchester United fan since the late 1960s, so I was involved pretty much at birth and before I even knew what football was! By the time of Euro 2004, I was obsessed with football. However, I was still only young and so wasn’t always aware of players from other teams.

Getting into the spirit of the tournament I was desperate to see England do well, but very quickly the England number nine – Wayne Rooney – captured my attention and, over the course of that tournament, he was the player I was desperate for United to sign.

I relied heavily on my dad keeping me up-to-date with transfers, as, in 2004, Teletext and newspapers were pretty much the only way we could keep track of things. We went on holiday to Menorca in August for two weeks and so we were completely out of the loop for all things United.

If we were out and about, I’d be clocking back pages of newspapers hoping and praying to see a photo of Rooney in a United shirt, but each time, nothing…

We’d go into a bar and the Olympics in Athens would always be on, with no football news, and more importantly, Rooney.

That is until 31 August. My family and I were at the beach. My dad received a phone call from my grandad back home.

“They’ve got him,” were the words I vividly remember hearing and then I was doing cartwheels in the sea! My club had signed the most exciting player from my country! I was ecstatic! Even though I’d been watching United for as long as I could possibly remember - even before my first match at the Theatre of Dreams - it was definitely the period between 2002 and 2004 where the football bug got me.

Rooney was one of a few players who were central to my early years of falling in love with the game. I would go on to see him win everything at United, scoring goal after goal after goal.

When the time came for him to leave, it was quite poignant. I’d been there to see him arrive as an exciting, explosive teenager through to breaking records. All the way through my teens and early twenties, Wayne Rooney and Manchester United went hand in hand and I will always look back fondly on those memories!

ADAM MARSHALL

I’d watched Wayne Rooney play for Everton in the FA Youth Cup final against Aston Villa and, obviously, followed his progress closely.

Once he’d started performing for the Toffees’ first team and taking to international football (I was at his competitive England debut at Sunderland], it was clear to me that here was the striker Manchester United needed to sign. I wrote an article for the weekly newsletter at Sky Sports at the time and recall claiming there was a glint in his eye as he celebrated a goal at Old Trafford in 2003 (it must have been against Liechtenstein or Denmark it would appear), where you could tell he was loving the moment at our famous stadium and sensed he wanted more of it!

It may have been wishful thinking on my part, I’m sure it was, and it generated a torrent of abuse from Evertonian readers, understandably saying ‘hands off’ and there was no way the local lad would even entertain the thought of switching to Manchester.

A few weeks later, it may have been a little longer, a short-lived Sunday sports newspaper, I can’t remember the title, carried a front-page splash saying they had the exclusive that United were indeed, moving for Rooney. Every time I drive past the little shop where I saw this, it makes me think of it.

I wondered was this just speculation or could it actually come to pass. In my view, Sir Alex would have waited another year for the teenager: we did sign Alan Smith that summer, after all. However, his Euro 2004 exploits, partnered with firm interest and bids from Newcastle United, forced our hand.

There was a short spell when it genuinely seemed Wayne would go to St James’ Park but the Reds manager would have moved heaven and earth to make sure he got his man.

From the night I was in the Stretford End, unusually with both my parents, to see him score that debut hat-trick against Fenerbahce, it was clear he was, indeed, the man this club needed.

SAM CARNEY

I’ve been a Red since the beginning of the Treble-winning season – thanks mum! – but my dad bleeds Everton blue and, with United tickets hard to get at the turn of the Millennium, my football fix often came at Goodison Park, rather than Old Trafford.

The Toffees were a struggling Premier League side until a certain David Moyes took over the hot-seat and, soon after, the Scot gave a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney his debut. ‘Roonaldo’, as he was quickly referred to on Merseyside, following an outstanding goal against reigning champions Arsenal, was Everton’s great hope, having starred in their run to the FA Youth Cup final the season prior.

Although United (and Arsenal) were top dogs at the time, there were few players who could rival Rooney’s pure electricity on the pitch and he immediately made going to watch live football exciting. Despite my allegiances, I was delighted when my nan bought me a blue T-shirt emblazoned with ‘Roonaldo 18’.

I felt privileged to have seen him play live in those early years, before he was capped by England, and really broke through with those sensational performances at Euro 2004. I don’t have too many vivid memories of the rumours linking him to United, but I can imagine I’d have been fairly excited at the prospect. I do remember where I was when the transfer was announced though.

Mum had taken us on a trip to the United Megastore that day, and there were lots of fans milling around, obviously hoping to find out the latest news, fresh at the forecourt. I think we were driving home when confirmation came through – my first feeling was that £30 million was a hell of a lot of money, but, looking back, it’s probably one of the best-value transfers in football history!

Of course, due to the metatarsal, we had to wait a good month to see Rooney in red, but my god was it worth it when he finally appeared for us against Fenerbahce.