Wayne Rooney may have his detractors but he knows a lot of people and on the whole he is a pretty popular kind of guy.

And yet there are not too many people who can say they went to his 18th birthday party – something that John Dalton can lay claim to.

Dalton comes from the same neck of the woods as Rooney back on Merseyside – they both went to De La Salle School – and retains a strong Scouse accent even though he left the area some 15 years ago.

The 35-year-old, who is now player/manager of Stroud United who play in Division One of the Stroud League, is a big Everton fan just like Rooney.

“I got invited to his party through a mutual friend,” he said. “We used to go to the same school and we’d play football against each other in the park. He was four years younger than me but even when he was 10 or 11 he was holding his own against 14 and 15 years olds.

“You could tell he was going to be a star. He destroyed every goalscoring record at our school.

“By the time he was 18 he was already playing for Everton and even though I was a few years older than him he was an idol of mine.

“I hadn’t seen him for quite a while when I went to his bash but he said he remembered me from our days playing against each other in the park.”

Dalton isn’t a bad player himself – like Rooney he’s a striker – and is certainly well known in footballing circles around Stroud and beyond.

“I came down here about 15 years ago for a working holiday and never went back,” he chuckled. “It was in the summer and my cousin John Thompson was running the Duke of York in Nelson Street in Stroud.”

Dalton is still pulling pints these days – he’s just taken a job at the Crown and Sceptre in the town – but he’s also put down some strong roots in the area because these days he is married to Heidi with whom he has two young boys, Sonny and Jesse.

They are already part of the furniture at Stroud United where Dalton is enjoying his second spell combining playing with managing.

While his trip down memory lane with Wayne Rooney is obviously a great tale to tell, he is just as keen to talk about all things Stroud United.

“I love being part of the club,” he said. “It’s very challenging being player/manager. We lost 11 players in the summer – six of them went to Kings Stanley but there are no hard feelings.

“It was a difficult summer because it’s a struggle to replace a whole team but we’ve started again.”

Despite their problems, the club are still fielding a 2nd team in Division Six of the Stroud League and Dalton added: “The objective of the 2nd team is for the young players to enjoy their football, to bring their friends along and rebuild from there.”

The club were only formed in 2006 – in those days they were known as Stroud Imperial – and although Dalton was not involved at the start he knows plenty about their history.

“The club were founded by John Fisher and his son Graham,” said Dalton. “Sadly John died last year but his family are very much engrained in the club.

“Graham is 47 and is still playing predominantly for the 1st team. He’s a midfielder but can play all over. He’s still got it.

“His brother David plays right-back for the reserves and Graham’s two sons – James Dean and Josh Fisher – play up front for the 2nds and on the wing for the 1sts respectively.”

Dalton still has a runaround on a Saturday afternoon as well.

While Stroud United are very much the club closest to his heart these days, he has played for a number of teams since settling in glorious Gloucestershire just this side of the millennium.

“I first played for a team called Victoria Celtic in Division Eight of the Stroud League,” he recalled. “It was a bit of a kickaround with my mates from the pub and I scored 76 goals.”

It may have been a kickaround on the local park but his goalscoring exploits soon got noticed further afield, most notably by then Cirencester Town manager Brian Hughes.

“That was a bit of a step up,” admitted Dalton, who had a loan spell at Tuffley Rovers before moving on to Shortwood United.

He spent a season there before landing up at Brimscombe and Thrupp which was the start of a three-year love affair.

“I found my club,” he said. “I helped them get promoted to the County League and I was their leading scorer for three seasons.”

So, what kind of forward was he?

“I was big and strong and in my 20s I was quick as well,” he said. “I was also good in the air. In one season, I scored 50-odd goals and more than 20 of them came from headers.

“That was our tactic, swing it into the back post for me to get on the end of.”

A broken leg when he was “27 or 28” stopped him in his tracks and he was never the same player again after the injury.

He had a spell with Taverners before linking up with what were then Stroud Imperial as player/boss.

It may have been a step down in playing ability but the club were only looking up and the new partnership enjoyed almost immediate success.

“We won promotion to Division Three and then Division Two,” Dalton said with some pride.

Family commitments meant he had to give up the role for a couple of seasons but he kept in touch with the club and was as pleased as anyone when they won the Division Two title – they also won the cup that season as well – while he was enjoying a sabbatical.

Now he’s back as the main man but knows it will be a big challenge to keep the club, who play their home games at Stratford Court, in the top flight of the Stroud League.

“I do feel we’re punching above our weight,” he said. “Division One is very competitive. There are some tough, well-established teams in the division.

“Kings Stanley should be playing at a higher level, then you’ve got Stonehouse, Tetbury, Old Richians and Barnwood. They’re all good teams.”

It certainly does sound like a challenge for Stroud United, but it’s one that Dalton is certainly up for.