Football: 'Hopefully I'll be on my own soon!' - Rooney wants United history after equalling Charlton record

Equalling Bobby Charlton's Manchester United goalscoring record was an honour for Wayne Rooney - but now he wants it all to himself.

Wayne Rooney has now set his sights on breaking Manchester United's goalscoring record after drawing level with Bobby Charlton in Saturday's FA Cup third-round win over Reading.

Rooney equals Charlton's Man Utd all-time goalscoring record

Football: Rooney's best day is still to come - Mourinho

Wayne Rooney equalled Manchester United's goalscoring record against Reading but Jose Mourinho says the time to celebrate is not now.

Wayne Rooney's best day at Manchester United will not come until he becomes the club's all-time leading goalscorer, manager Jose Mourinho has said.

The 31-year-old opened the scoring in Saturday's 4-0 FA Cup win over Reading to move level with Bobby Charlton on 249 goals for the 20-time English champions.

 

FA Cup: The longest third round ever: 66 days, 261 postponements and 15-foot snowdrifts

It took 66 days to complete the third round of the FA Cup in 1962/63. The chaos, hardship and forlorn hopes that afflicted British football in the coldest winter since 1740 are captured in the stamp on the cover of Sheffield United’s third-round tie against Bolton Wanderers, due to take place on January 5 1963, which read: “After many postponements due to unprecedented winter conditions, match finally played 20th February 1963, kick-off 7.15pm (or so we thought until one hour beforehand!) AT LAST! 6th March 1963, kick-off 7.15pm.”

That heartfelt, triumphant 'AT LAST!' was very nearly the final word on the longest round in the cup’s history. The third round suffered 261 postponements (Lincoln City vs Coventry City was called off 15 times) as 15-foot snowdrifts, gale force winds, freezing fog, three months of frost, and temperatures sinking as low as -20.6C, made it nigh-on impossible to play football. A round that started on January 5 – when just three matches were played – finally staggered to a conclusion when Middlesbrough beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 at Ayresome Park on March 11. 

 

The FA Cup now provides a welcome chance for a rest, not excitement

The FA Cup is not what it once was. That’s been true for a long time, and obvious for almost as long. The older fans and players have a sense of nostalgia about the competition, about the best game it produced, and lament that it used to be the traditional bookend to the season. Winning the FA Cup was not as important as winning the league, but it meant something significant nonetheless. Now, it’s more of a consolation for a manager on his way out, or a way for a mid-table side to experience some fleeting success.

There have been some sensible suggestions made in order to improve it, but even these are admissions of defeat. If replays were abolished, then it would expunge one of the main traditions of the tournament, the FA Cup replay. The replay that allows a lower league side to take a top division team back to their intimidating ground, or to make a trip to a Premier League stadium, with the money that comes with it. Preserving the FA Cup by removing one of its rare qualities is, in some ways, not preserving it at all.

 

Premier League transfer window 2017 LIVE: All the ins and outs

Welcome to day 6 of the January Transfer Window.

Yahoo Sport’s Stanley Accrington has already rounded up the biggest rumours and gossip in his column today, some stories far more believable than others but all handled in Stan’s trademark manner.

Today’s big name is Antoine Griezmann who apparently has been offered the same wages and bonus structure as Paul Pogba to sign for Manchester United…