Jump to content

Michael Owen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Angmering (talk | contribs) at 17:03, 9 June 2007 (→International career: slight clarification). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other people named Michael Owen, see Michael Owen (disambiguation).
Michael Owen
Personal information
Full name Michael James Owen
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Newcastle United
Number 10
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:41, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Michael James Owen (born December 14, 1979, in Chester, Cheshire[2]) is an English football player currently with Newcastle United. He has also played for Liverpool (1996–2004) and Real Madrid (2004-05). He plays as a striker and has enjoyed a hugely successful and high-profile career at both club and international level and was the European Footballer of the Year in 2001. Owen is currently England's 4th highest scorer of all time, with 37 goals in 82 games for his country, with him being England's leading competitive goalscorer on 23 goals.

Pace and clinical one-on-one finishing were Owen's greatest assets early in his career, though some consider he has since lost some pace due to injuries. Owen has recently returned from a year and a half of recurrent injuries sustained since January 2006.

Career

Early life

When Michael was only seven his father, Terry, persuaded the manager of Mold Alexandra to let Michael into his team of ten-year-olds. Michael was quite a bit younger than most, and very much smaller, but he was soon showing off his "flair" and started in most games becoming known as the club's 'secret weapon'. He also played for his primary school team in Hawarden, Wales, breaking all local scoring records in his first season. He then attended Hawarden High School, where he also played for the school team.

His records and ability attracted much attention from top English teams, but as a Junior School boy, the school had the final say and it was a policy not to allow pupils to sign contracts at such a young age.

Liverpool F.C.

At age 11, when Owen had joined Hawarden High, he became avaliable 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 who persuaded him to attend the FA's School of Excellence at Lilleshall in Shropshire from 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. With Owen's help, Liverpool's youth team won the FA Youth Cup in 1996.[3] After four months, he signed professional forms for the senior team just after his seventeenth birthday in 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. Owen ended that season as a joint top scorer in the Premier League with Chris Sutton and Dion Dublin, scoring eighteen goals, and was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year by fellow professionals.

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

He proved to be a consistent goal scorer for Liverpool, and in 2001, 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 European 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 3-2 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 best 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 to win the European Footballer of the Year award.[6] He scored his 100th goal for Liverpool on December 21 2001 against West Ham United, and his 100th Premiership goal against West Bromwich Albion during the 2002-03 season.[3]

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 2004-05 season, Owen sat on the bench to avoid being cup-tied for the Champions League, a factor that would mean that none of the top clubs in Europe would want to sign him.[7] Real Madrid signed him for a fee of £8 million on 13 August 2004, with midfielder Antonio Nunez moving in the other direction as a make-weight.[8]

Real Madrid C.F.

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 UEFA Champions League victory over Dynamo Kiev. A few days later, he scored with the first Spanish league goal in a 1-0 victory over Valencia. 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 highly respectable 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, Michael Owen scored for Real in an emphatic 4-2 win over mighty rivals Barcelona FC.

On August 24, 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 loomed in a year, Owen wanted to get more playing time to secure his position as the first choice striker in the English squad and joined Newcastle amidst rumours that he had inserted an escape clause valued at £12 million. This was not denied by Newcastle, but they deflected criticism that Owen was biding his time to move back to Liverpool.

Newcastle United F.C.

On August 31, 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.[9] Roughly 20,000 fans were present at Newcastle's home ground of St James' Park for Owen's official unveiling as a Newcastle player.[10] 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 September 18 – 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 December 17.[11] It was also a "perfect hat trick", (meaning he scored with his left foot, right foot, and head).

Owen has been very unfortunate in sustaining serious injuries since joining Newcastle. On December 31, 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,[12] but the healing process did not go as hoped and on March 24 he underwent a second, minor, operation. Owen then stated that he should be fit for the final few weeks of the season with Newcastle.[13] His return to action finally came against Birmingham City on April 29 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.[14] 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 fanned 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 £100,000 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 running again on Monday 12 February 2007, when pictures on the clubs official website highlighted Owen running and doing a few minor exercises.[15] He made his comeback from injury on 10 April 2007 in a 4-1 behind-closed-doors friendly against Gretna, scoring after 10 minutes and then setting up fellow striker Shola Ameobi before coming off an hour later.[16] 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.[17]

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 2006-07 season. A report in The Times newspaper suggested Owen could be available for less than £10m 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."[18] However a video posted on YouTube in which some Liverpool fans asked Shepherd if they could have Michael Owen back, he responded by saying that he would carry Owen back to Liverpool himself.[19] Shepherd also states his dislike of Owen's agent but praises Owen as a "good lad".[20] This has led many to believe Owen will go if the £9m valuation is matched.[19]

Owen was stretchered off an hour into Newcastles game with Watford on 13 May 2007, suffering with concussion after colliding with team-mate Matty Pattison.[21]

International career

Owen had a highly successful record at Youth and 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 in February 1998. Playing in this game made Owen the youngest player to represent England in the whole of the 20th century.

Owen's youthful enthusiasm, pace and talent made him a popular player across the country, 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 just prior to this tournament, only increased these calls. The goal also made him the youngest ever player to have scored for England, 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 kept on the bench as a substitute in the first two games. However, his substitute appearance in the second game against Romania saw him score a goal and hit the post with another shot, almost salvaging the defeat. After that, Hoddle had little choice but to play him from the start, and in England's second round match against Argentina he scored a sensational individual goal, voted by many as the goal of the tournament and really bringing him to the attention of the world football scene.

England drew that match and went out of the tournament on penalties, but Owen had sealed his place as an automatic England choice and his popularity in the country was huge. 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, the award's youngest-ever recipient.

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. 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, and since then has 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 May 25, 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.

As of June 6, 2007, Owen has been capped 82 times for England and scored 37 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 holds the record for goals for England in competitive matches, i.e. World Cup and European Championship games and the qualifiers for those tournaments, having scored twenty-three times in such games.

After playing only 51 seconds of his 80th cap in the 2006 World Cup against Sweden, Owen suffered a knee injury and was forced to leave the match; Peter Crouch came on as his replacement. This finished off what Owen regarded as a rotten tournament for him, and completely ruined his chances of being the first ever England player to score in five successive major international tournaments for his country. A scan of the injury on 21 June showed that he injured the anterior cruciate ligament of his knee, and was sent home, no longer able to play in the tournament, and was expected to be out of action for about a year.[22]

Owen underwent successful ACL reconstruction surgery, carried out by Dr. Richard Steadman, on 6 September, 2006.[23] The injury sidelined him until April 2007, meaning he missed England's first 6 matches in qualifying for Euro 2008. He returned for the England B game against Albania,[24] and was named in the full squad for the games against Brazil and Estonia,[25] with Owen stating "I feel sharp and, if given the chance, I feel confident when in front of goal."[26] He played in both matches and scored against Estonia breaking Gary Linekar's record for most goals in competitive internationals for England.[27]

Other work

Owen starred in a series of adverts that charted his life, and rise to fame.[28] He also appeared in several adverts for the washing powder Persil, in a contract worth £1,000,000.[28]

Personal life

Owen is married to Louise Bonsall. They married on 24 June 2005, at the Carden Park Hotel in Wales, having been engaged since 14 February 2004.[29] They had known each other since starting primary school in 1984.[30] They became parents on 1 May 2003 when their daughter, Gemma Rose Owen, was born.[31] Their son, James Michael Owen, was born on 6 February 2006. The couple had initially planned to get married at their home, Lower Soughton Hall, 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,[30] 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.[29]

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.[32] 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.[33]

Statistics

Club Performance
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Others Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Newcastle United 2006–07 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
2005–06 11 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 7
Real Madrid 2004–05 36 13 4 2 - - 5 1 0 0 45 16
Liverpool 2003–04 29 16 3 1 0 0 6 2 0 0 38 19
2002–03 35 19 2 0 4 2 12 7 1 0 54 28
2001–02 29 19 2 2 0 0 11 6 1 1 43 28
2000–01 28 16 5 3 2 1 11 4 0 0 46 24
1999–00 27 11 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 30 12
1998–99 30 18 2 2 2 1 6 2 0 0 40 23
1997–98 36 18 0 0 4 4 4 1 0 0 44 23
1996–97 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
Total 266 138 19 10 14 9 55 23 2 1 354 181

Career honours

Liverpool F.C.
Winner
Runner Up
Real Madrid
Runner Up
Newcastle United
Winner
  • 2006 Uefa Intertoto Cup

Individual honours

References

  1. ^ "Michael Owen". Newcastle United.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  2. ^ "Michael Owen". The FA.com. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  3. ^ a b c d "MICHAEL OWEN". Liverpool FC.tv. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  4. ^ "Owen shrugs off fitness fears". BBC Sport. 2000-05-24. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  5. ^ "Awesome England thrash Germany". BBC Sport. 2001-09-01. Retrieved 2007-06-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Owen's crowning glory". BBC Sport. 2001-12-17. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Owen move speculation increases". 2004-08-11. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |publiser= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Owen unveiled by Real". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  9. ^ "Newcastle prepare to unveil Owen". BBC Sport. 2005-08-31. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Owen completes move to Newcastle". 2005-08-31. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  11. ^ "West Ham 2-4 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 2005-12-17. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  12. ^ "Owen denies problem at Newcastle". BBC Sport. 2006-01-18. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  13. ^ "Owen: I'll be 100% fit for World Cup". The Guardian. 2006-03-27. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Simon Austin (2006-04-04). "Grip confident about Owen fitness". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Craig Hope. "Michael Owen Up And Running". Newcastle United.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  16. ^ "Owen scores on return from injury". BBC Sport. 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Ian Hughes (2007-04-30). "Reading 1-0 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-05-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Shepherd tells Owen to stay loyal". BBC Sport. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-05-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b Chris Charles (2007-05-11). "Review of the week". BBC 606. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Daniel Thomson (2007-05-12). "Shepherd's Owen joke makes him a star". The Journal. Retrieved 2007-05-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Dan Warren (2007-05-13). "Watford 1-1 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-05-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Owen ruled out for several months". BBC Sport. 2006-06-21. Retrieved 2007-05-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ "Owen may face season on sidelines". BBC Sport. 2006-08-17. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ "England B 3-1 Albania". BBC Sport. 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ "Beckham recalled to England squad". BBC Sport. 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  26. ^ "Sharp Owen set for England return". BBC Sport. 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Chris Hatherall (2007-06-08). "Owen's honour". The FA.com. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  28. ^ a b "Owen stars in his own soap". BBC News. 2004-03-07. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  29. ^ a b "Owen 'springs marriage surprise'". BBC News. 2005-06-24. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ a b "Star Owen switches wedding plans". BBC News. 2005-05-05. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |accesdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Baby joy for Owen". BBC News. 2003-05-01. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ "Star's old home for sale". BBC News. 2004-01-12. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ "Kidnap attempt on Owen's sister". BBC News. 2004-02-16. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
Preceded by European Footballer of the Year
2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by PFA Young Player of the Year
1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by BBC Sports Personality of the Year
1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Premier League top scorer
1997-98, 1998-99 		Succeeded by

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Owen&oldid=137069626"