Wayne Rooney was told in a phone call from Andrew Parkinson, Plymouth Argyle’s chief executive, late on Monday night that his time at the club was over. In truth, though, the message had been more forcibly conveyed by the club’s travelling fans at Oxford United 24 hours previously.

Plymouth Argyle’s marketing department may have hoped they were playing it safe by using an image of manager Wayne Rooney for the January entry on the club's 2025 calendar, but that plan was scuppered by confirmation of his exit on New Year’s Eve.