It was the clash that was not only set to be gloriously fascinating for football fans, but for anyone who had been following the enthralling Wagatha Christie trial.
For the first time since Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney came face to face in the High Court where they were supporting their warring wives, the two football stars were due to meet as Birmingham City welcome Leicester City to St Andrew’s tomorrow night.
While admittedly it would have been much more exciting if Wayne was still playing, for weeks there has been much chatter among both sides on how they would deal with the face-off.
Of course, every movement would be documented. Every single look, word (if any) and gesture would be discussed by television pundits and on social media for days afterwards. Likely too, would be fashion critics ready to compare the WAGs’ designer outfits.
Both Team Vardy and Team Rooney were even anticipating both lip-reading and body-language experts to be in full throttle, analysing every teeny aspect of the meeting.
 Rebekah sensationally lost the ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel case with Coleen in July 2022
For the first time since Jamie Vardy and Wayne Rooney (pictured in 2016) came face to face in the High Court where they were supporting their warring wives, the two football stars were due to meet as Birmingham City welcome Leicester City to their St Andrew’s stadium tomorrow nightÂ
Wayne and Coleen, especially, feared the column inches would not only overshadow the game but also revisit Wagatha, something both of them say had a hugely detrimental effect on their lives — even their marriages.
Those close to Coleen, 37, say that she always intended to stay away. While she does, on occasion, make the trip down the M6 from the couple’s £10million Cheshire mansion to Birmingham to support Wayne now he is managing the Championship side, she was keen to avoid being the star of the show.
‘She would rather leave her husband to get on with this job,’ says a friend of the WAG. ‘She’s not stupid, she knows what a circus it would have been and she is very much trying to move on from it all now.’
Rebekah, meanwhile, who out of the two wives is much happier in the limelight, was tempted to be there. ‘She loves to watch Jamie. So do the kids and it isn’t that far from where she lives. There were of course discussions over whether she would go.’
Thankfully, she didn’t need to make a decision because, rather handily, her husband went and injured his knee, which has ruled him out of the game and put an end to the circus.
Of course, the question still remains, will Jamie travel with his team-mates? The chances are slim, apparently.
The showdown would have come jut a little over four years after Coleen took to social media in October 2019 to accuse Rebekah of leaking stories about her private life to the Sun newspaper.
Coleen and Rebekah pictured together in 2016 – The showdown would have come jut a little over four years after Coleen took to social media in October 2019 to accuse Rebekah of leaking stories about her private life to The Sun newspaper
Both Team Vardy and Team Rooney were even anticipating both lip reading and body language experts to be in full throttle, analysing every teeny aspect of the meeting
Wayne and Coleen, especially, feared the column inches would not only overshadow the game but also revisit Wagatha, something both of them say had a hugely detrimental effect on their lives — even their marriages
Rebekah, 41, responded by suing Coleen for libel, culminating in a gripping two-week trial in May 2022 which was littered with tantalising details including an article in which Rebekah once described singer Peter Andre’s manhood as the size of a ‘chipolata’.
Rebekah lost the case against and was ordered to pay her rival’s £1.8million legal bill — as well as her own costs which were thought to have been around £2m.
While the High Court showdown last spring was very much about the WAGs, their husbands did find themselves being dragged into the row after Rooney took to the stand to tell judge Mrs Justice Karen Steyn about an ‘awkward’ moment when former England manager Roy Hodgson asked him to have a word with team-mate Jamie Vardy at the Euro 2016 tournament to tell his wife to ‘calm down’.
Outside the court, Vardy hit back in a statement, saying Rooney was ‘talking nonsense’, adding: ‘He must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Becky’s media work at Euro 2016. There was nothing to speak about. I know this because I discuss everything with Becky.’
While Vardy was yet to publicly address the battle, Rooney went to great lengths to explain that he was keen to focus on the football — and appealed to others to leave Wagatha Christie at the front door of St Andrew’s.
Rebekah, meanwhile, who out of the two wives is much happier in the limelight, was tempted to be there. ‘She loves to watch Jamie, so do the kids and it isn’t that far from where she lives. There were of course discussions over whether she would go’ – pictured in the south of France back in 2008
When asked about the reunion in a press conference on Friday, Wayne said: ‘My job is to focus on Birmingham trying to win the game.
‘I played with him for England, the same as I played with many players for England.
‘He is not someone who I have ever had a relationship with, outside of being away on a training camp or being in games with him.
‘I respect Jamie Vardy a lot, I think he is a fantastic player — he still has a lot to offer Leicester.
‘In my opinion, Jamie Vardy is a fantastic player and has been for many years, a great servant for Leicester. Ultimately, the game is about Birmingham going to try and win the game. Anything else, there is nothing really to talk about.’
While both have been granted a reprieve for now, Birmingham will be travelling to Leicester City’s King Power Stadium on April 6 next year.
And with the Vardys being on home turf, there is little doubt that Rebekah will be ready and awaiting the action. Clutching her best Birkin handbag, of course.
