Wayne Rooney has welcomed the news that England will host the 2018 UEFA European U17 Championship.
The Three Lions captain has fond memories of the competition after he was voted player of the tournament at the very first Finals in Denmark in 2002.
Rooney, aged just 16 years, was yet to make his debut in the Premier League and was the youngest player in the England squad.
Rooney celebrates scoring against Scotland last year
Switzerland went on to lift the trophy, but in the third-place play-off, Rooney scored a stunning hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Spain to take his tournament tally to five goals.
Barely two years later Rooney was lighting up the full European Championship in Portugal and recognised as one of the tournament’s star men.
Reflecting on the 2002 Finals, the Manchester United star said: "Playing for England in the U17s Finals was, at the time, the proudest moment of my life.
“I quickly discovered playing tournament football is completely different to normal competitive matches.
"Playing in Denmark gave me great experience and a first taste of the atmosphere and conditions of playing for your country in the Finals of a tournament. From my point of view I found the experience invaluable."
He added: “I can still remember that feeling you get when things are going well as we progressed throughout the tournament.
"We eventually lost to Switzerland, the eventual winners, in the semi-final, but bounced back with a great team performance in the third and fourth place play-off game beating Spain. I was fortunate enough to score a hat-trick.
England are the current European U17 Champions
“Looking back now I would say that a player experiencing tournament football as early as they can is a vital part of a player’s development.
"In my case I was able to use my experiences of 2002 in the 2004 Euros in Portugal with the senior England side.
“Winning the tournament last year in Malta has shown that we have some great talent playing for England and coming through the system.
"Hopefully we can continue this level of success with all of our development teams.”
Fast forward a decade and Rooney, with 46 goals from 101 caps, is still leading England’s charge - this time to the Euro 2016 Finals in France.
Whatever happens, Rooney remains the golden inspiration for all those talented youngsters dreaming of following in his footsteps in 2018.
