Michael Owen on Tuesday announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season. The former Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle and Manchester United player has made just sevenappearances this season for his current club, Stoke City, due to injury problems.
“It is with an immense amount of pride that I am announcing my intention to retire from professionalfootball at the end of this season,” Owen, 33, said on his personal Web site. “Having progressed through the ranks at Liverpool to make my first team debut at 17, before embarking upon spells at RealMadrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, not to mention representing my country on 89 occasions, I now feel it is the right time to bring the curtain down on my career.”
Owen made his debut for Liverpool in 1997 and went on to complete seven successful years at the club. He won three the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup with Liverpool in 2001, that same year hewon the Ballon d’Or, which was then known as the European Player of the Year Award. Owen later spent one unsuccessful year at Real Madrid, before returning to England to play for NewcastleUnited, where he would develop a series of injury problems which would continue to plague him throughout the rest of his career. He represented England 89 times, scoring 40 goals.