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Football

12th Jul 2017

Of course you want Jon Snow’s opinion on Wayne Rooney’s move from Manchester United

A lifelong fan of the Old Trafford club

Paul Moore

The King in the North is a Manchester United fan.

In Game of Thrones, Ygritte is constantly reminding us that Jon Snow (her actual boyfriend Kit Harington) know nothing, but it’s clear that he’s clued up about all things related to Manchester United.

During a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Harington was more than happy to discuss his career and the upcoming episodes of the world’s greatest show.

Ok, the actor did his very best to “deny everything” because “it’s getting so complex trying to sell the show”, but he did reveal a few tidbits of information.

The former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch believes that none of the current Game of Thrones cast will be involved in the spin-offs. He was also happy to chat about how the HBO epic has changed TV and the frayed relationship between Jon and Sansa in Season 7.

For football fans, Harington’s discussion about why he supporters Manchester United and Wayne Rooney’s future was pretty interesting.

Here’s why Jon Snow’s heart belongs at Old Trafford.

“I’m a lifelong Manchester United fan despite growing up in London. What happened is that I then moved to Worcester. In fact, I never visited Manchester until I was about 11 years old. I’m what you call a true red! Someone that didn’t grow up in the city! But I did grow up next to an Irish family and there’s a big contingency of Manchester United fans in Ireland. My parents were never really into football, but me and my brother idolised one of the sons in this family of Manchester United supporters. I picked Man Utd because he supported them.”

When speaking about Wayne Rooney’s move to Everton, Harington was extremely complimentary to United’s record goalscorer.

“I’m happy about it. I think it’s the right choice on his part. Obviously he has a young family and he doesn’t want to uproot them. Those Everton fans that were so furious for him leaving the club and coming to United, I think they know he wanted to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world. He came to United and became our record goalscorer, he’s been amazing for us. Now he’s going back to the team he supported as a boy and I think that’s a lovely full circle. That’s a great thing he’s doing, I wish him luck.”

Rich Eisen then asked Harington if he had an opinion regarding those people who begrudge Rooney his success.

“I don’t think so. You would be a very sad person if you begrudged him that. I hope the Everton fans welcome him back with open arms also. He’s a different player now, he lost his pace but he has an incredible footballing brain on him. His instincts are still there and he has a couple of good years left in him at Everton.”

 

The full interview is a really good watch for Game of Thrones fans but one thing is clear. Jon Snow knows something about football (10 min mark)

Game of Thrones Season 7 premieres exclusively on 17 July on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV at 2am, repeated at 9pm on the same day.

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