Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has lifted the lid on some of the strangest and most uncomfortable moments he endured on away trips during his career, from faulty dressing rooms to sleepless nights before big matches.

Former England captain who played for Everton, Manchester United, and England across two decades, shared the stories on the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sounds.

Rooney recalled how conditions in opposition dressing rooms often bordered on the ridiculous. At Chelsea and Tottenham, the away changing areas were unbearably hot.

He said, “You’d literally get dressed as quickly as you can and then stand outside the dressing room.”

At Liverpool’s Anfield, however, it was the complete opposite: “Anfield was always freezing. I don’t know whether they manipulate the temperature in there.”

For the 39-year-old, but the worst came at Sunderland, where he wasn’t even playing. Suspended for the game, Rooney revealed how Manchester United’s squad suffered an unpleasant surprise when toilets above the away dressing room began to leak.

“It came through when all of the players were in their clothes. I think there was a load of whatever goes into the toilet, all over the players and the clothes," he added.

Rooney also revealed how match preparation was sometimes sabotaged the night before.

“We’ve had fireworks outside the hotel at different places.One New Year’s Eve in Birmingham, Manchester United’s squad stayed at a hotel where the team had been put on the top floor to avoid party noise below. What the players weren’t told, however, was that a firework display was scheduled on the roof at midnight,” he said.

“At midnight all the players were woken up by all these fireworks going off right above us," he added.

For Rooney, some of the most difficult away days were not about facilities, but emotion. He admitted his first return to Goodison Park as a Manchester United player in February 2005 was particularly painful.

“Yeah, was horrible. Obviously it’s a ground I’ve been going to since I was a kid, a baby,” Rooney said.

His father, a lifelong Evertonian, even refused to attend the FA Cup tie, knowing the hostile reception his son would face.

“My dad, that was the game he wouldn’t go to. Because obviously he knew I’d be getting a lot of stick.”

Rooney remains one of the most prolific players in Premier League history. During his career, he made 491 league appearances, scoring 208 goals and providing 103 assists.