Rex Waybe aged 10
The school that turned Wayne Rooney into one of the country's top football superstars is being threatened with closure.
The Manchester United and England striker developed the skills that made him a multi-millionaire at Our Lady and St Swithin's Catholic Primary School in the Liverpool suburb of Croxteth.
But now council bosses want it to be demolished in a £3.5 million move to drive up standards.
The school is within the 20 per cent of schools not classed as 'good' or 'outstanding' by education watchdog Ofsted.
A Liverpool City Council source has said it believed moving it to a new site 'will help improve standards'.
But plans to relocate the school from the site where it has been based since 1840 have sparked anger in former pupils and residents.
Janet Dale, 55, who has a grandchild at the school, said: "I went to that school, my children went there and now my grandchild goes there.
"It has been there for decades and is part of the community."
A spokesman for Liverpool Council said: "There is a proposal to co-locate Our Lady and St Swithin's with St John Bosco as part of our Secondary Schools Investment Plan.
"This is just a proposal at this stage and a consultation exercise is under way to get all views before a final decision is made by the Archdiocese."
A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese said: "No decision has yet been made."