| England sweatshirt England team player profile - Michael Owen Michael James Owen, more commonly known as Michael Owen, Newcastle United and England footballer, was born on 14th December 1979 in Chester, England. Football has always been in Michael Owen's blood, his father Terry Owen, was a professional footballer for Everton, and he grew up an Everton supporter idolising Gary Lineker. When Michael Owen was just seven years old his father bought him his first pair of football boots and got him into Mold Alexandra, a local team for 10 year olds. Michael Owen also played for his schools football teams where he was a prolific goal scorer breaking local scoring records. At thirteen years old he signed as a school boy for Liverpool FC and a year later attended the Football Association's School of Excellence, where he graduated at 16 and joined Liverpool FC's Youth Training Scheme (YTS). In December 1996 Michael Owen signed his first professional contract for the merseyside club and went on to make his debut, as a substitute, in May 1997 when he scored a goal against Wimbledon. in his first full season (1997/98) Michael Owen finished as the equal top scorer in the Premier League scoring 18 goals and was named the PFA Young Player of the Year. In February 1998 he became the youngest player to play for England winning his first senior cap in a friendly against Chile. Michael Owen was then selected for the England squad that travelled to the France 98 World Cup finals, his first goal coming in a pre-tournament warm-up match against Morocco. During the tournament itself England manager, Glenn Hoddle, named Michael Owen as a substitute bringing him on in the second match against Romania when he scored in a 2-1 defeat. He also appeared in the next match against Columbia, which England won 2-0, however, it was his appearance in the second round match against Argentina, when he scored a superb individual goal, which thrilled the football world and proved to be a defining moment for Michael Owen. Michael Owen secured his first trophies with Liverpool FC in 2001 when they won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup under the guidance of Gerard Houllier. This signalled a great year for Michael Owen as a few months later he also scored a hat-trick in England's historic 5-1 World Cup qualifier win over Germany, and was then voted the European Footballer of the Year. In early 2002 he was named England captain (following an injury to David Beckham) and also featured in England's unsuccessful campaigns in the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 European Championships in Portugal. When Gerard Houllier was sacked as Liverpool manager in 2004 rumours surfaced about Michael Owen's future with the club too, and, in August of the same year confirmation came of his transfer to Real Madrid. His form at the Spanish club was slow in coming and he often found himself starting on the substitutes bench, however he did find his feet and ended the season with an impressive 16 goals. Michael Owen's time at Real Madrid was short and when they signed Brazilian forwards Robinho and Julio Baptista the writing was on the wall and in August 2005 Newcastle United unveiled their new £16 million record signing Michael Owen. His Newcastle United career was going well until he broke a bone in his foot in a match against Tottenham Hotspur on New Years Eve 2005. He returned to action at the end of the season, in time to make England's Germany 06 World Cup squad, only to then sustain a cruciate ligament injury in the World Cup finals group stage match against Sweden. Michael Owen needed almost a year to get over his injury and return to full fitness playing in his first competitive match against Reading in April 2007.
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