Roger Johnson said "I am delighted to get Adam over the line. He is someone who was of real importance to get in. I’ve always liked Adam as a player, he gave me a hard time many years ago when I played against him and have seen him play against my teams in recent years.

He is someone who can hold it up to bring others into play, will win his headers, work hard for the team and most importantly knows where the goal is. His career and the clubs he’s been at speaks for itself."

The 34-year-old Irishman arrives at St James Park having made over 600 senior appearances and scoring over 255 goals. Adam played for the Irish Under 18 side then picked up 9 caps for the Under 21s. In 2016 he was selected for the full squad.

Dubliner Rooney started with his local side Crumlin United before moving to Stoke City in the summer of 2005. He played five times for the Potters scoring four times. Three of those goals came in a final day win over Brighton and at 18 years-old he became Stoke's youngest ever hat-trick hero. He also had three loan spells during his time at the Britannia Stadium, at Yeovil Town, Chesterfield and Bury.

In 2008 he made the move to Scottish football, signing for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. It would be a season of struggle in the SPL for Caley Thistle and the club were relegated. However 2009-2010 would be a memorable season for Caley Thistle and Adam Rooney, they went on a 21-game unbeaten run to secure the title. Adam finished as the league top-scorer, with 24 to his name.

He continued his goalscoring exploits in the SPL, netting 15 times the following season, adding 6 more in cup competitions. Adam’s fine form attracted attention from South of the border and he moved to Birmingham City in 2011 who were in the Championship. Whilst at St Andrews he scored his first-ever European goal, against NK Maribor in the Europa League. A loan spell at Swindon Town was followed by a permanent move to Oldham Athletic. In January 2014 SPL giants Aberdeen came calling and Adam was on his way back to Scotland.

After moving to Pittodrie Adam was immediately amongst the goals. In February his goals helped set up a Scottish League Cup final clash with former side ICT. The game went to a shoot-out and Adam tucked away the decisive kick to secure the Dons’ first silverware for 19 years.

There were plenty more goals to come and by the end of the 2017-2018 season, his fifth with the club, Adam had scored a total of 88.

In July 2018 Rooney signed for Salford City in the National League for an undisclosed fee, by the end of his first season at the club the Ammies were promoted to League Two via the playoffs. Adam had made 38 appearances and finished the season as the club's top scorer. By the time he left the Ammies in 2020, he made 82 appearances for Salford and scored 33 goals in all competitions.

He signed for Solihull Moors in March 2020 but because of the COVID-19 pandemic it would be seven months later before he would make his debut, he scored the only goal of the game against Boreham Wood. He would go on to make 53 appearances for the Moors, scoring 13 goals.

In August 2022 Rooney signed for Stratford Town in the Southern League. He has made 9 appearances, scoring 5 goals, including a FA Cup Hat-trick against Cleethorpes Town.

Welcome to St James Park Roons!