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PICTURES |
PROFILE |
BIOGRAPHY |
AWARDS |
QUOTES |
LINKS |
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MICHAEL OWEN AND LIVERPOOL FC |
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 He first played for his primary school team
in Hawarden, Wales, breaking all local scoring records in his
first season. From the age of 14 he attended the FA's School of
Excellence in Staffordshire but also continued to study at the
local Hawarden High School and picked up ten GCSEs.
Liverpool signed Owen as an apprentice while in his teens,
although as a boy he had been a supporter of their local arch-rivals
Everton. With Owen's help, Liverpool's youth team won the FA
Youth Cup in 1996. He signed professional forms for the senior
team just after his seventeenth birthday in December 1996,
making a sensational debut for the team against Wimbledon in May
1997, coming on as a substitute and scoring a goal. 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 joint top scorer in the
Premier League, scoring eighteen goals (equal with Chris Sutton
and Dion Dublin), as well as being voted the PFA Young Player of
the Year by his fellow professionals.
He continued to be a consistent goalscorer for Liverpool, and in
2001 helped the club to their most successful season for 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 appeared to be a 1-0 defeat
into a 2-1 victory. Surprisingly, however, he failed to score in
the team's incredible 5-4 victory against Deportivo Alavés in
the UEFA Cup, and was substituted in that game. At the end of
the year, he became the first British player for twenty years to
win the European Footballer of the Year award. |
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