Owen Hargreaves

Lore & Background

Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Alberta, as the youngest of three boys for Margaret and Colin Hargreaves, who had emigrated from the United Kingdom at the start of the 1980s. He is the only member of his family born in Canada; his brother Darren and his mother were both born in Wales, and his other brother Neil and his father were born in England. As a youngster in North America, in addition to football, Hargreaves grew up watching and playing sports like basketball, ice hockey, and American football. His sporting heroes were basketball icon Michael Jordan and American football and baseball player Deion Sanders.

In Their Own Story

The sun beat down on the Home Depot Center pitch as Owen Hargreaves jogged through his warm-up routine. Unlike the frantic pace of Old Trafford or Anfield, the rhythm here was different, yet the expectation remained high. He wiped sweat from his brow, looking out at the sea of Galaxy blue and gold. In his hands, he held a ball that had seen Champions League finals; now, it would be used to guide a new generation of MLS talent through the twilight of his career.

Reader's Guide

Hargreaves tried out for Bayern Munich in October 1996 and moved at the age of 16 from Calgary Foothills to the German club on 1 July 1997. He played in the Under-19 team for two and a half years before spending nine months with the amateur team. On 12 August 2000, he played in his first Bundesliga match against Hertha Berlin. That season the club were Bundesliga champions and also won the UEFA Champions League, with Hargreaves starting the final in central midfield. He is one of only three English players to have won a Champions League medal with a non-English club. In the 2001–02 season, Hargreaves established himself as a first team regular. He made 46 appearances in all. The club regained their Bundesliga title in 2002–03, along with the DFB-Pokal. On 26 January 2003, Hargreaves scored his first Bundesliga goal. The 2003–04 season was his first with Bayern without winning any silverware. In 2004–05 he picked up another German championship and DFB-Pokal. In the 2005–06 season, he added another Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal title. In the 2006–07 season, Hargreaves broke his leg, which kept him out of most of Bayern's league campaign. In total he played 145 top-flight matches in Germany for Bayern. On 31 May 2007, it was announced that Hargreaves would join Manchester United on 1 July 2007, for a fee of around £17 million. He signed a four-year contract. In his first season with United, they won the Premier League and Champions League titles. In the Champions League final, Hargreaves played all 120 minutes and scored United's fourth penalty of the shootout as they defeated Chelsea 6–5 on penalties. The start of Hargreaves' second season at United was hampered by injury, a recurring patellar tendinitis problem. He underwent surgery on his right knee on 10 November 2008 and a similar operation on his left knee in January 2009, missing the remainder of the 2008–09 season. He returned to the club on 23 September 2009. He eventually made his comeback in a reserve team match on 18 March 2010. After his contract expired in June 2011, Hargreaves posted YouTube videos in a bid to convince potential suitors of his fitness, and in August 2011, Manchester City offered him a one-year contract, which he accepted, but he was released at the end of the season after just four appearances.

Did You Know?

• Hargreaves 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 s
• He is one of only three English players to have won a Champions League medal with a non-English club, alongside Steve McManaman and Jude Bellingham.
• Hargreaves scored the first goal at the new Allianz Arena in a competitive match on 5 August 2005, against Borussia Mönchengladbach.