Michael Owen

This article is about the English footballer. For other people, see Michael Owen (disambiguation).

Michael Owen
Owen in 2014
Personal information
Full name Michael James Owen[1]
Date of birth (1979-12-14) 14 December 1979 (age 44)[2]
Place of birth Chester, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Mold Alexandra
1991–1996 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2004 Liverpool 216 (118)
2004–2005 Real Madrid 36 (13)
2005–2009 Newcastle United 71 (26)
2009–2012 Manchester United 31 (5)
2012–2013 Stoke City 8 (1)
Total 362 (175)
International career
England U15 8 (15)
England U16 11 (15)
England U18 14 (10)
1997 England U20 4 (3)
1997 England U21 1 (1)
2006–2007 England B 2 (0)
1998–2008 England 89 (40)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as the England national team. Since retiring from football in 2013, he has become a racehorse breeder and owner and regularly features as a sports pundit and commentator.[4] Owen is widely considered to be one of the greatest strikers of his generation[5][6][7] and in Premier League history.[8] In March 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[9]

The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen was born in Chester and began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. Displaying rapid pace and composed finishing, he progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his Premier League debut in May 1997, becoming the club's youngest goalscorer, at 17 years, 143 days.[10] In his first full season in the Premier League, Owen finished as joint top scorer with 18 goals, sharing the Premier League Golden Boot. He repeated this the following year and was Liverpool's top goal-scorer from 1997 to 2004, gaining his name as a proven goal-scorer despite suffering from a recurring hamstring injury. In 2001, Liverpool won a cup treble of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup (with Owen scoring two late goals in the final) and Football League Cup, and Owen was the recipient of the Ballon d'Or. He went on to score 118 goals in 216 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool, and 158 goals in 297 total appearances.

After Liverpool had fallen behind their title rivals under Gérard Houllier's final two seasons, Owen opted not to renew his contract and then moved to Real Madrid for £8 million in the summer of 2004. There he was frequently used as a substitute. He scored 13 goals in La Liga before returning to England the following season where he joined Newcastle United for £16.8 million. This was after Owen's disappointment that Real had rejected a bid from Liverpool to re-sign him.[11][12] After a promising start to the 2005–06 season, injuries largely ruled him out over the next 18 months. After his return, he became team captain and was the team's top scorer for the 2007–08 season. Newcastle were relegated in the 2008–09 season and, in a surprise move, Owen moved to Manchester United as a free agent. He spent three years at Old Trafford before joining Stoke City in September 2012. Owen is one of ten players to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League.[13] He is also the youngest player to have reached 100 goals in the Premier League.[14] On 19 March 2013, Owen announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Internationally, Owen first played for the senior England team in 1998, becoming England's youngest player and youngest goalscorer at the time. His performance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, which included a goal against Argentina in which he ran from the halfway line, brought him to national and international prominence, making him one of the most sought after players in world football.[10] He went on to score in UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. He is the only player to have scored in four consecutive major tournaments for England. He played at the 2006 World Cup, but suffered an injury which took him a year to recover from. Occasionally playing as captain, he is England's 11th-most-capped player and has scored a former national record (since overtaken by Wayne Rooney) of 26 competitive goals, with 40 in total from 89 appearances, most recently in 2008.[15]

  1. ^ "Premier League clubs submit squad lists" (PDF). Premier League. 2 February 2012. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  2. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: England" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  3. ^ "Michael Owen: Profile". Liverpool F.C. Archived from the original on 1 May 2001. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Michael Owen". BT Sport. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Ranked! The 101 greatest football players of the last 25 years: full list". FourFourTwo (253 ed.). 13 February 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Thierry Henry, David Villa, Michael Owen Among Top 27 Strikers Of The Decade". BleacherReport. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  7. ^ "50 Greatest International Strikers Since the '90s". BleacherReport. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Ranked! The 30 best strikers in Premier League history". FourFourTwo. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 March 2004. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Liverpool's youngest Premier League players ever". Liverpool FC. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Real to consider Reds' Owen offer". BBC Sport. 30 August 2005. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  12. ^ Waugh, Chris (12 January 2017). "Michael Owen reveals truth about why he joined Newcastle in 2005, despite wanting Liverpool return". Chronicle Live. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  13. ^ "All time – Leading Scorers Premier League". Statbunker football. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Michael Owen: his career in numbers". Guardian. 19 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  15. ^ Arnhold, Matthias (29 January 2009). "England – Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2009.