Wayne Rooney has confirmed he will be leaving his role at the BBC to return to England and prepare for the new Championship season as the Plymouth Argyle head coach.

Rooney, who had been out of management after being sacked from his role at Birmingham in January, was appointed as the new boss of Plymouth last month. Argyle had retained their Championship status on the final day of the 2023/24 season, ironically at the expense of Birmingham.

Despite this, Rooney had agreed to work with the BBC as a pundit at Euro 2024. Having featured working during a number of matches – including England’s 1-1 draw against Denmark last week – Rooney confirmed he will leave the BBC following Belgium’s goalless draw with Ukraine on Wednesday.

Announcing it was Rooney’s last appearance as a pundit for the Euros, presenter Gary Lineker asked: “Wayne, it’s your last time here because you were gonna stay longer but you’ve got a job. When does it start?” Rooney replied: “I fly home tomorrow. The lads are back in on the 3rd of July so I’ll be home and straight down to Plymouth.”

Rooney was then asked about the new Championship fixtures, which were confirmed earlier in the day. Plymouth will kickstart with a trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, August 11 before facing Hull, QPR and Stoke within the first month of the season.

He answered: “Yeah the excitement was there again today. When you see the fixtures, you’re looking through the opening games, the Christmas schedule and stuff. Really Excited.”

Fellow pundit Alan Shearer couldn’t resist a dig as he said: “Wait till the pundits start criticising you!” Lineker then concluded: “We wish you all the best Wayne.”