Wayne Rooney reveals deep adulation for Ronnie O'Sullivan, urges King to knight snooker star

Record 41-time ranking event winner O'Sullivan is preparing for his upcoming campaign at the 2026 World Snooker Championship where he is aiming to secure a record eighth Crucible crown.

It has been a largely frustrating few seasons for ‘The Rocket’ who has gone over two years on the professional circuit without lifting a trophy.

However, there have been bursts of brilliance from the Englishman during that time, signature moments such as becoming the first player to make two maximum 147 breaks within the same session at the Saudi Arabia Masters back in August, and compiling the highest break ever made in top-flight competition at last month's World Open.

And there are reasons to be hopeful for O'Sullivan and his worldwide legion of fans ahead of the Crucible having reached the final of the aforementioned World Open in Yushan, China, where he was only denied the title by an inspired Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.

“I absolutely love him”: Rooney names O’Sullivan on top of his list

O’Sullivan is widely regarded as the greatest snooker player of all-time, a statement that one of English football’s most prolific stars, Wayne Rooney, more than agrees with.

The record Manchester United goalscorer and former England captain made his feelings perfectly clear during a recent episode of his ‘The Wayne Rooney Show’ with the BBC.

When listing his greatest sporting figures of all-time - although excluding footballers - Rooney had no hesitation in placing the seven-time world snooker champion at the top.

"My number one is, it's controversial but, for me, I absolutely love him, it's Ronnie O'Sullivan” said the former Champions League winner.

"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.”

O’Sullivan - whose unrivalled snooker longevity has seen him win Triple Crown titles more than 30 years apart - was ranked by Rooney ahead of Tiger Woods (2nd), Mike Tyson (3rd), Serena Williams (4th) and joint fifth-placed Tom Brady and Michael Jordan.

Rooney says that O’Sullivan should be knighted

England’s former all-time record goalscorer went further on describing his adulation for O’Sullivan, urging that he should be knighted: "In my opinion, he should be Sir Ronnie O'Sullivan. He should be knighted. He should, maybe [it's] because he's controversial.

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

"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 received an OBE around a decade ago, but his influence and achievements certainly suggest a strong case for him being made a ‘Sir’.

Rooney is not the first global sports star to reveal his appreciation for O’Sullivan, with record 24-time major winning tennis great Novak Djokovic striking a relationship with him.

In 2024, O’Sullivan was invited to Djokovic’s private box to watch the Serbian play at Wimbledon, and the two have exchanged Whatsapp messages.

During that Wimbledon campaign, Djokovic revealed that he used to watch O’Sullivan when he was younger: "He was one of the sport greats I used to watch when I was a kid.”

Djokovic recently took to Instagram congratulating O’Sullivan on his record 153 break at the World Open by saying: “Greatness has no ceiling”.

O’Sullivan’s bid for an eighth World Championship title begins in round one at the Crucible against a qualifier. The opening session of that match will be on the afternoon of Tuesday 21st April (14:30BST start), with the concluding session the same time the following afternoon.