Adam Rooney

Stoke City

Rooney signed for Stoke City in the summer of 2005, after spells with Home Farm, Cherry Orchard and Crumlin United. In his first season at Stoke, Rooney made his debut at academy and reserves levels, before making his first team debut as a second-half substitute against Tamworth in the FA Cup. Rooney scored his first goal for Stoke against Reading on 17 April 2006. In only his second full start for Stoke City, he scored a hat-trick against already relegated Brighton & Hove Albion in the final fixture of the 2005–06 season to become Stoke's youngest ever hat-trick scorer.

Loan moves

On 16 March 2007, Rooney joined Yeovil Town on loan for a month. The loan was later extended until the end of the season. However, he returned to Stoke on 9 May 2007, after making one start and two substitute appearances for Yeovil. In August 2007, he joined League Two side Chesterfield on a four-month loan.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Rooney travelled with Scottish Premier League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle's squad on their pre-season tour of Denmark and returned to train with the Highland side in August, before the club announced his signing on a three-year deal. Rooney scored his first goal for Inverness in a 2–1 defeat at home to St Mirren, which was the SPL's 6,000th goal. In the 2009–10 season he was awarded the "Irn Bru Phenomenal" First Division Player of the Year award. He was top scorer in the First Division with 24 goals, 27 in all…

Rooney played for the Republic of Ireland under-18 team in the 2005 European Youth Olympic Festival in Lignano Sabbiadoro; he scored twice as Ireland beat Switzerland to win the bronze medal. On 14 May 2007, Rooney scored a hat-trick in the Ireland under-19s' 3–0 win over Bulgaria in the elite qualifying phase of the 2007 European Under-19 Championships. He was capped nine times for the under-21 team between 2007 and 2010. He was called up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad in May 2015 for the first time when manager Martin O'Neill included him in a 33-man preliminary squad to face England in a friendly and Scotland in Euro 2016 qualifying.

Rooney was appointed interim manager of Hereford on 11 February 2026, after manager Paul Caddis was relieved from his duties. In March 2026, Rooney followed Caddis to King's Lynn Town as assistant coach with the ability to be selected as a player.

Rooney was born in Dublin. His older brother Mark was also a professional footballer. In January 2022 Rooney co-launched Good Feel Coffee, an online coffee company supporting mental health and cancer charities.