 Hargreaves playing for Manchester United in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Owen Lee Hargreaves[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 20 January 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2][3] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–1997 | Calgary Foothills | ||
| 1997–1999 | Bayern Munich | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2001 | Bayern Munich II | 26 | (6) |
| 2000–2007 | Bayern Munich | 145 | (5) |
| 2007–2011 | Manchester United | 27 | (2) |
| 2011–2012 | Manchester City | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 199 | (13) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998 | Wales U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | England U21 | 3 | (0) |
| 2001–2008 | England | 42 | (0) |
| 2006 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known as a hard-working and "solid defensive midfielder who worked tirelessly to win the ball" and provide his teammates with possession.[4] He played with Calgary Foothills as a youth before beginning his professional football career in Germany with Bayern Munich. After seven years with the Munich side – during which time he won four German league titles and the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League – Hargreaves signed for Manchester United in 2007, winning the Premier League and UEFA Champions League in his first season. However, his time at Manchester United was thereafter plagued with injuries and he was allowed to leave the club at the end of his contract in June 2011. Hargreaves posted YouTube videos in a bid to convince potential suitors of his fitness, and in August 2011, Manchester City offered Hargreaves a one-year contract, which he accepted, but he was released at the end of the season after just four appearances for the club.
As a Canadian citizen with a Welsh mother and an English father, Hargreaves was eligible to represent Canada, Wales or England. Hargreaves initially played for Wales, and was capped three times for the Wales under-19 team, but then opted to play for the England under-21 team in 2000 and was capped by the senior squad the following year. He is the only player to have played for England without having previously lived in England, and only the second, after Joe Baker, to have done so without having previously played in the English football league system.[5]
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Owen Hargreaves". Manchester United F.C. Archived from the original on 16 January 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
- ^ "Owen Hargreaves: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "Player Profile". ESPN Soccernet. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
- ^ "Joe Baker – Swashbuckling centre-forward". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2003.