Michael Owen

Ballon d'Or winner and one of the Premier League's greatest strikers.

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. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, in 2001, Owen was the recipient of the Ballon d'Or. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

Quick Facts

Full name: Michael James Owen
Born: 14 December 1979
Birthplace: Chester, England
Height: 1.73 m / 5 ft 8 in
Position: Striker
Total caps: 362
Total goals: 163

Lore & Background

Owen was born in Chester, Cheshire, on 14 December 1979 as the fourth child of Jeanette and Terry Owen. His father is a former professional footballer. At eight, Owen was selected for the Deeside Area Primary School's Under-11 team. At nine, he was captain and at ten he had smashed Ian Rush's 20-year record for the same team by scoring 97 goals in a single season. Owen turned out for the youth team of Mold Alexandra, scoring on his debut. He attended Hawarden High School.

Reader's Guide

Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He scored on his Premier League debut in May 1997, becoming the club's youngest goalscorer. In his first full season, he 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. In 2001, Liverpool won a cup treble. He scored 118 goals in 216 Premier League appearances for Liverpool and 158 goals in 297 total appearances. He moved to Real Madrid in 2004 for £8 million, then to Newcastle United for £16.8 million, later to Manchester United as a free agent, and joined Stoke City in September 2012. He announced his retirement on 19 March 2013.

Did You Know?

Owen is one of ten players to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League.
He is the youngest player to have reached 100 goals in the Premier League.
He was the first player to have scored in four consecutive major tournaments for England.
Owen scored 40 goals in 89 appearances for England.