Rooney's agent has been accused of misleading court

Three men have been charged in the High Court with attempting to coerce money from Wayne Rooney's agent. Paul Stretford claimed that John Hyland, a former British Olympic boxer turned football agent, and two others, had threatened to kill him if he did not hand over 50 per cent of the £1.5m income paid by Manchester United for setting up the player's move from Everton. But the prosecution decided to drop its case after it emerged that Stretford made false statements while testifying. Stretford had told the jury he had not represented the player before December 2002 when the player was still under contract to his original agent, Peter McIntosh. But two documents released over the weekend showed that Stretford had signed up Rooney by September 2002. As a result, prosecutor John Hedgecoe said, "We do not feel able to rely on Stretford as a witness in this case." Judge David Hale then issued not guilty verdicts on all three defendants. The case centered on an incident at a Warrington hotel in June, 2003, which was secretly filmed by Stretford. Stretford was in a business meeting when Hyland and the Bacon brothers came in an allegedly tried to make him sign a contract agreeing to split his Rooney profits 50-50. But the defense, led by Queen's Counsel Lord Carlile, brought in other sordid details of the world of football agents. In November 2002, former Liverpool and Newcastle manager Dalglish, a friend of Stretford as well as a major shareholder in Proactive, was alleged to have suggested a meeting with the other camp at a hotel near Heathrow Airport. Tommy Adams, a convicted drug dealer who had just emerged from a 7 1/2-year jail term, was also invited to the meeting by Dalglish. Stretford was also grilled on why he had recommended that the Rooney family, when looking for a new agent, take legal advice from a Liverpool solicitor, Kevin Dooley, who was then under investigation for defrauding clients of thousands of pounds. He was later struck off the roll. Dooley, who has since died, was also Dalglish's lawyer. Stretford insisted he was unaware that Dooley was under investigation. Stretford has stepped down from the board of his management company, Formation Group plc but he will nevertheless continue to work as head of professional representation for Formation’s Proactive agency.

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