The son of former footballer Terry Owen, he progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997. In his first full season in the Premier League he finished as joint top scorer. He repeated the feat the following year and was Liverpool's top goal scorer from 1997–2004, in spite of a recurring hamstring injury. His first major club honours came in 2001 when Liverpool won a cup treble of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and Football League Cup, and Owen was the recipient of the Ballon d'Or that year.

Owen moved to Real Madrid for £8 million in mid-2004 but was frequently used as a substitute. In spite of this, he scored 13 goals in La Liga and had the season's highest ratio of goals scored to number of minutes played. He returned to England the following season, joining Newcastle United for £16 million. He had a promising start to the 2005–06 season but 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.

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 World Cup brought him to national and international prominence and he went on to appear, and score, in Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. He is the only player to ever have scored in four 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 seventh most-capped player and has scored a national record of 26 competitive goals.^[2]

Early life

Born 14 December 1979 in Chester, Cheshire, Michael James Owen was the fourth child of Janette and Terry Owen. His father is a former professional footballer and Owen grew up playing the game with him and his two older brothers. An Everton fan, Owen played for his primary school team in Hawarden, Wales, breaking all local scoring records in his first season. He joined the youth team of Mold Alexandra, playing with an older age-group, and later attended Hawarden High School, where he also played for the school team.

Club career

Liverpool

At age 13, when Owen started attending high school, he became available to sign "School Boy" forms with a club. He held talks with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, before he eventually signed for Liverpool, the club that persuaded him to attend the FA's School of Excellence at Lilleshall in Shropshire at age 14. Throughout this time, he studied at Idsall School, Shifnal, Shropshire, and achieved ten GCSEs.

Liverpool signed Owen after he graduated from Lilleshall at 16, and joined the club on the Youth Training Scheme. The star of Liverpool's 1996 FA Youth Cup triumph, scoring a hat-trick in the final against Manchester United, Owen scored prolifically as he rose rapidly through the Anfield ranks.^[3] After four months, he signed professional forms for the senior team just after his seventeenth birthday on 18 December 1996.

He made his debut for Liverpool against Wimbledon in May 1997, coming on as a substitute and scoring a goal.^[3] With an injury to Robbie Fowler, he was thrust immediately into action as a first team regular alongside the likes of newcomer Paul Ince and playmaker Steve McManaman in the following 1997–98 season. He scored his first European goal for the club against Celtic in the UEFA Cup and recorded his first professional hat-trick against Grimsby Town in the League Cup. Owen ended that season as a joint top scorer in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers' Chris Sutton and Coventry City's Dion Dublin, scoring eighteen goals, and was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year by fellow professionals.

The 1998–1999 season proved to be another good season for Owen as he scored 23 Goals in 40 games for Liverpool. Despite his form, Liverpool were unable to mount anything like a title challenge and their seventh place finish was not enough to attain even a UEFA Cup place. Owen injured his hamstring in a league game against Leeds United on 12 April, which proved to be a recurring injury and prematurely bought his season to an end.

The next season was a frustrating one for Owen as he was out injured for lengthy periods, effects of the injury suffered the previous season but nevertheless managed to score 12 goals and helped Liverpool to qualify for the UEFA Cup.

In the run-up to Euro 2000, Owen was still suffering hamstring problems and received treatment from the Bayern Munich doctor, Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt.^[4]

In the 2000–2001 season, he helped the club to their most successful season in several years. The team won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup, with Owen scoring two goals in the last few minutes against Arsenal in the FA Cup final to turn what had appeared to be a 1–0 defeat into a 2–1 victory, the game has since been christened "The Michael Owen Cup Final".^[3]

Winning the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup allowed Liverpool to play in the Charity Shield and the UEFA Super Cup at the beginning of the 2001–2002 season. Liverpool won both matches with Owen scoring the second goal of the 2–1 win over Manchester United in the Charity Shield and the third goal in the 2001 UEFA Super Cup win over European champions Bayern Munich. Liverpool thus became the first English team to win five trophies in one calendar year. Just a week later, Owen would again beat Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, as the English international hit a hat-trick in England's 5–1 win over Germany in Munich.^[5] At the end of the year, Owen became the first English player in twenty years and the only Liverpool player ever to win the European Footballer of the Year award. He was also voted World Soccer player of the year in 2001; he is the only English player to win the award and was the first Premier League player to do so.^[6] He scored his 100th goal for Liverpool on 21 December 2001 against West Ham United. Liverpool finished second in the league in the 2001–2002 season and Owen played a key part in the success, scoring 28 goals.

The 2002–2003 season saw Owen on top form again as he hit 28 goals. Liverpool were on top of the table and looked like genuine title contenders for the first time in several years, but a run of bad results saw them eventually finishing fifth in the table. Owen also scored at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff when Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0 to win the League Cup and scored his 100th Premiership goal against West Bromwich Albion.^[3]

In an injury-hit 2003–2004 season he still managed to score 19 goals, getting his 150th goal for the club on 15 February 2004 against Portsmouth, but otherwise it was a bleak season for both him and Liverpool.

Following Gérard Houllier's sacking as Liverpool manager, speculation about Owen's departure from the club began. During the first few Champions League games at the start of the 2004–2005 season, Owen sat on the bench to avoid being cup-tied for the Champions League, something that would have meant none of the top clubs in Europe would want to sign him. Since 1998 Owen had been Liverpool's top scorer every season until he left the club.^[7] Real Madrid signed him for a fee of £8 million on 13 August 2004, with midfielder Antonio Núñez moving in the other direction as a make-weight.^[8] Owen was ambitious in wanting to compete in the Champions League on a regular basis, but ironically Liverpool won the Champions League the very season he left Anfield for the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid

Following their successful bid, Owen was presented with the number 11 shirt by Real Madrid. Owen had a slow start to his Madrid career. He was often confined to the bench and drew criticism from fans and the Spanish press for his lack of form. A successful return to action with the England squad in October 2004 seemed to revive his morale, however, and in the first following match, he scored his first goal for the club, the winner in a 1–0 Champions League victory over Dynamo Kiev.^[9] A few days later, he scored his first Spanish league goal in a 1–0 victory over Valencia.^[10] The scoring spree continued, as he found the back of the net in three of the next four matches to make it five goals in seven successive matches. He ended the season with thirteen goals in La Liga, with the season's highest ratio of goals scored to number of minutes played. Following Real's signing of two high-profile Brazilian forwards, Robinho and Júlio Baptista in the summer of 2005, the speculation arose that Owen would return to the Premier League. During his time at Real Madrid, Owen scored 18 goals from 41 games, 15 of which were starts.^[11]

Newcastle United

On 24 August 2005, Newcastle United announced that they had agreed a club record fee of £16 million to obtain Owen, although they still had to negotiate with the player's advisers. Liverpool and local rivals Everton entered the fray, but were unwilling to match Madrid's asking price. As the 2006 World Cup was less than a year away, Owen wanted to get more playing time to secure his position as the first-choice striker in the England squad and joined Newcastle amidst rumours that he had inserted an escape clause valued at £12 million.^[12] On 31 August 2005 Owen finally signed a four-year contract to play for Newcastle United, despite initial press speculation that he would rather have returned to Liverpool.^[13] Roughly 20,000 fans were present at Newcastle's home ground of St James' Park for Owen's official unveiling as a Newcastle player.^{[14] [15]} Several days after signing he suffered a thigh-injury in pre-season, which ruled him out for the start of the 2005–2006 season. He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, the second goal in a 3–0 away win at Blackburn Rovers on 18 September – Newcastle's first win of the season. Owen scored his first hat-trick for Newcastle in the 4–2 away win over West Ham on 17 December.^[16] It was also a "perfect hat trick", with one goal scored with each of his left foot, right foot, and head.

On 31 December 2005, Owen broke a metatarsal bone in his foot in a match against Tottenham Hotspur. He underwent surgery to place a pin in the bone, to help speed the healing process. He was expected to be out of action until late March,^[17] but the healing process did not go as hoped and on 24 March he underwent a second, minor, operation. Owen then stated that he should be fit for the final few weeks of the season with Newcastle.^[18] His return to action finally came against Birmingham City on 29 April when he came off the substitutes' bench in the 62nd minute. After the match Owen stated that he was "not 100% happy" with his foot.^[19] He underwent a further x-ray and made himself unavailable for Newcastle's final game of the season.

A damaged anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, sustained in the first minute of the group match against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup, kept Owen out of regular football for nearly a year, until April 2007. Owen's injury highlighted the "club or country" dispute between clubs and the international authorities, as the Football Association's insurance policy would not fully reimburse Newcastle United for Owen's salary of over £120,000 a week, or the costs of employing another player to cover for him; Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd threatened to sue the FA for compensation.

Owen began light training on 12 February 2007, when pictures on the club's official website highlighted Owen running and carrying out minor exercises.^[20] He made his comeback from injury on 10 April 2007 in a 4–1 behind-closed-doors friendly against Gretna, scoring after ten minutes and then setting up fellow striker Shola Ameobi before coming off an hour later.^[21] Owen then started his first game for Newcastle United in over a year, against Reading on the 30 April 2007 in a game that Newcastle United lost 1–0. He played the full 90 minutes, having a goal disallowed for offside.^[22]

Owen was stretchered off an hour into Newcastle's game with Watford on 13 May 2007, suffering concussion after colliding with team-mate Matty Pattison.^[23]

On 9 May 2007, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd reacted angrily to reports that Owen could move on to another club at the end of the 2006–2007 season, due to a release clause in his contract. A report in The Times newspaper suggested Owen could be available for less than £10million and could be a target for the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Despite these reports, Shepherd warned Owen "to show some loyalty" and warned him that "none of the big four clubs want him."^[24] However, in a video posted on YouTube, a group of Liverpool fans asked Shepherd if they could re-sign Owen, he responded by saying that he would "carry Owen back to Liverpool" himself.^[25] Shepherd also stated his dislike of Owen's agent but praised Owen as a "good lad".^[26] This led many to believe that Owen would exercise his right to leave if the £9 million valuation was matched.^[25] On 10 June 2007, Owen's new manager at Newcastle, Sam Allardyce, confirmed the existence of the release clause in Owen's contract and admitted he feared that the club would be powerless to prevent Owen from leaving.^[27] However on 12 July 2007 Owen committed his immediate future to Newcastle United, stating: "I believe that these can be good times to be at Newcastle, which is why I am more than happy to be here."^[28]

On 17 July 2007, he scored for Newcastle in a pre-season friendly against Hartlepool United.^[29] Several days later, Owen picked up a thigh injury in training.^[30] Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce admitted that Owen was likely to miss the start of the forthcoming Premier League season due to the injury which "doesn't look as encouraging as we first thought."^[31] Owen made his comeback from injury in a club friendly on 13 August 2007 and declared himself available for Newcastle's next match, against Aston Villa, as well as England's forthcoming international matches.^[32] On 29 August 2007, Owen scored his first competitive goal for Newcastle since December 2005 when he scored in the Carling Cup against Barnsley.^[33] Three days later he scored in the league, with a late winner against Wigan Athletic.^[34]

In late September 2007, after an encouraging start to the season playing for both Newcastle United and for England, it was reported that he would urgently require an operation for a double hernia and would likely be out of action for at least a month.^[35] In his first match back from the hernia operation, he scored a late goal coming off the substitutes bench to clinch victory for Newcastle over Everton.^[36]

In November 2007 Owen suffered a thigh strain whilst on international duty, ruling him out for six weeks. This reignited the 'club or country' row, with then Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce voicing his disappointment that Owen was risked in a low-key friendly game against Austria.^[37]

After over three months without a goal, Owen scored the first goal of the second Kevin Keegan era in a 4–1 FA Cup third round replay win over Stoke City on 16 January 2008, although Keegan was only a spectator in the stands for this game. Owen was awarded the captaincy by Keegan on 19 January 2008. He scored his first league goal of 2008 on 3 February. Owen's goal in the 2–0 defeat of Fulham on 22 March 2008, which marked Newcastle's first win under Kevin Keegan's second spell as manager, also marked the first time in his Newcastle career that Owen had scored more goals for Newcastle than against them.^[38] By 5 April 2008, after his and the teams early season poor form, Owen had scored six goals in the previous six matches, with Newcastle registering four wins and two draws, lifting Newcastle into mid-table after earlier relegation fears. In the final game of the season, Owen scored in a 3–1 loss at Everton, finishing with 11 goals in total, putting him in equal 13th position for Premier League goals for the 2007-2008 season.

Owen missed all of the pre-season matches and training of the 2008-2009 season due to a bout of Mumps, which also kept him out of the international friendlies with the USA and Trinidad & Tobago in May 2008. He also suffered a calf strain during the summer months which kept him out of the opening game of the season against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a game which Newcastle drew 1–1. He made his return in the second game of the season against Bolton Wanderers on 23 August 2008, coming on in the 53rd minute for the injured Obafemi Martins. He scored the winning header in the 71st minute with the game finishing 1–0. Three days later he was named on the bench in a Carling Cup match away to Coventry City, he came on as a substitute and scored the winner in extra time in a 2–3 victory. In the 2008–2009 season he featured more consistently than in prior seasons, scoring four goals in twelve league appearances.

Owen stated on 22 December 2008 that he intended to consider his contract situation in the summer of 2009 when his contract is due to expire, also commenting that he had no intention of talking with any other clubs during the January transfer window.^[39]

International career

Owen had a highly successful record at Youth level, playing for the England Under-20 team at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship and scoring three goals in four games. beating the goal scoring records of Kevin Gallen, and Nick Barmby in the Under-21 international level, although he was only briefly a member of the England Under-21 team (netting on his only appearance in a win over Greece Under-21 at Carrow Road) before he made his début for the senior team in a 2–0 friendly loss to Chile on 11 February 1998. Playing in this game made Owen the youngest player to represent England in the whole of the 20th century at 18 years and 59 days of age.^[40]

Owen's youthful enthusiasm, pace and talent made him a popular player across the country,^[41] and many fans were keen for him to be made a regular player for the team ahead of that year's World Cup. His first goal for England, against Morocco in another friendly game prior to the tournament further enhanced his reputation.^[42] The goal also made him the youngest ever player to have scored for England,^[43] until his record was surpassed by Wayne Rooney in 2003.

Although he was selected for the World Cup squad by manager Glenn Hoddle, he was left on the bench as a substitute in the first two games. However, his substitute appearance in the second game, a 2–1 defeat to Romania, saw him score a goal and hit the post with another shot, almost salvaging a point from the game.^[44] After that, Hoddle played him from the start, and in England's second round match against Argentina he scored a sensational individual goal after beating defenders Roberto Ayala and José Chamot before kicking the ball just outside the penalty box. This goal voted by many as the goal of the tournament, thus bringing him to the attention of the world football scene.^[45]

England drew that match and went out of the tournament on penalties, but Owen had sealed his place as an England choice and his popularity in the country had increased greatly. At the end of the year, he won a public vote to be elected winner of the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year title.^[46]

He has since played for England in Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, scoring goals in all three tournaments. This makes him the only player to ever have scored in four major tournaments for England.^[47] He also became one of only a handful of England players to appear in three World Cup tournaments when he played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although he did not score and was injured in the final group game.

In April 2002, he was named as England's captain for a friendly match against Paraguay in place of the injured regular captain David Beckham. Owen was the youngest England skipper since Bobby Moore in 1963,^[48] and since then regularly captained England during any absence of the regular captain.

Owen made his debut for the England national B-team in a friendly against Belarus on 25 May 2006, as part of his return to match fitness ahead of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He captained England B in this game, playing for 61 minutes before being substituted.^[49]

Owen started England's first two games of the 2006 World Cup, against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, but did not manage to score. After playing only 51 seconds of his third appearance of the tournament, and 80th cap, in the 2006 World Cup against Sweden, Owen badly twisted his left knee and was forced to leave the match on a stretcher.^[50] A scan of the injury on 21 June confirmed that Owen had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, and was sent home, no longer able to play in the tournament.^[51]

Owen underwent successful reconstruction surgery, carried out by Dr. Richard Steadman, on 6 September 2006.^[52] The injury sidelined him until April 2007, meaning he missed England's first six matches in qualifying for Euro 2008. He returned for the England B game against Albania,^[53] and was named in the full squad for the games against Brazil and Estonia,^[54] with Owen stating "I feel sharp and, if given the chance, I feel confident when in front of goal."^[55] He played in both matches and scored against Estonia, breaking Gary Lineker's record for most goals in competitive internationals for England.^[56] Owen's latest international efforts include a brace for England in a 3–0 win over Russia on 12 September 2007.^[57]

With his two goals against Russia, he became the first player to score international goals at both the old and new Wembley Stadiums.

As of 26 August 2008, Owen has been capped 89 times for England and scored 40 goals: he is fourth in the list of all-time top scorers for the England team, behind Bobby Charlton (49 goals), Gary Lineker (48) and Jimmy Greaves (44). He has also scored a record 26 goals for England in competitive matches (World Cup and European Championship games and the qualifiers for those tournaments) and has been captain for England in 7 matches.^[58]

As of December 2007, Owen has never gone more than four international games in a row without scoring a goal. Owen's future as first choice striker for England is uncertain however, due to competition from Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and fast-developing Theo Walcott amongst others. Owen's lack of action in Fabio Capello's first two England friendlies and Capello's selection of a single striker 4-5-1 formation also support the view that Owen's international opportunities may in future be limited.^[59].

2008 was a tough year for Owen as he was excluded from World Cup qualifiers against Andorra, Croatia, Kazakhstan & Belarus despite at times being in good goalscoring form and having a good workrate in a poor Newcastle side.^[60] Many fans and pundits^[61] have called for Owen to be reinstated in the national team but whether Capello will select him still remains to be uncertain. He was once again left out of the squad for the friendly against Germany in November 2008, despite forwards Emile Heskey and Wayne Rooney being unavailable for the match. However Capello still states as of November 2008 that Owen could still be reinstated to the side at some point in the future.^[62]

Personal life

Owen met English-born Louise Bonsall at primary school in 1984.^[63] The couple bought Lower Soughton Manor in Flintshire, North Wales where Owen keeps his cars and Louise keeps her horses. They got engaged on 14 February 2004, and married on 24 June 2005^[64], at the Carden Park Hotel in Chester, Cheshire. The couple had initially planned to get married at their home, but changed plans when they were informed that if a licence was granted for a marriage ceremony the venue must be made available for other weddings for three years,^[63] so opted to marry in a registry office in informal clothing and have a lavish reception the next day in the grounds of their home.

On 1 May 2003 their daughter, Gemma Rose, was born.^[65] On 6 February 2006, they welcomed a son named James Michael. Their third child, a daughter, Emily May, was born 29 October 2007.^[66]

After Owen returned to the UK to play for Newcastle United, he traveled to a nearby BAE facility on a daily basis in order to fly, via helicopter, to train with his club. However, there is now a helipad installed within the grounds of the house to accommodate Owen's Eurocopter Dauphin, with which he both travels and is training to become a pilot.^[67] Owen was eventually banned from training to be a pilot by Newcastle United, due to excessive insurance premiums.^[68]

Owen also bought an entire street for his extended family (Austen Close, Ewloe), which is in an area close to where he used to live.^[69] and in 2008 was reported in the Daily Express as surveying the purchase of the original Walt Disney site with celebrity realtor Paul Grimshaw in Estepona, Southern Spain. ^[70]

In 2004, Owen's sister Karen was assaulted by two youths, who attempted to kidnap her. When she revealed that she was pregnant, they fled.^[71]

Owen owns several cars and a helicopter and enjoys horse racing and gambling. Owen is the brother in-law of footballer Richie Partridge.^[72]

Owen starred in a series of adverts that charted his life, and rise to fame.^[73] In 2001, he was the advertising face of breakfast cereal "Nestlé Sporties". He also appeared in several adverts for the washing powder Persil, in a contract worth £1,000,000.^[73] Owen was selected as one of the two cover athletes for Pro Evolution Soccer 2008.^[74] He has been an ambassador of the Swiss watchmaker Tissot since 1998 and has a contract with car manufacturer Jaguar.^[75][76]

He has indicated that he would like to become involved with Chester City Football Club in some capacity when he retires as it was his local team growing up and his father is a former Chester City player.^[77]

He recently signed up to a new venture contacttheplayers.com, becoming one of the first pro footballers to answer his fanmail online.^[78]

Career statistics

Honours

Liverpool

• FA Cup: 2001
• Football League Cup: 2001, 2003
• FA Community Shield: 2001
• UEFA Cup: 2001
• European Super Cup: 2001
• FA Youth Cup: 1996

International

• FA Summer Tournament: 2004

Individual

• PFA Young Player of the Year: 1998
• Premier League joint top scorer: 1998, 1999
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year: 1998
• Ballon d'Or: 2001
• FIFA 100