Michael Owen keynote speaker

Michael Owen is a former footballer who progressed through the ranks of Liverpool youth team and scored on his Premier League debut in May 1997, becoming the club’s youngest goalscorer at the time. In his first full season in the Premier League, he won the Premier League Golden Boot and was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award. He was Liverpool’s top goal-scorer from 1997 to 2004.

Owen helped Liverpool to a treble in 2000–01, as the team won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup to end a six-year trophy drought. He scored both Liverpool goals late in the 2001 FA Cup Final to turn around what had appeared to be a certain defeat for Liverpool at the hands of Arsenal and later that year, he was awarded the Ballon D’or award in recognition of his performances that season.

Owen joined Real Madrid in 2004 before returning to the Premier League with Newcastle in 2005 followed by spells at Manchester United and Stoke City before announcing his retirement in 2013. He scored 163 goals in all club appearances.

Internationally, Owen first played for the senior England team aged 18 in 1998 against Chile. Just months later, he scored his first International goal in a pre-World Cup friendly against Morocco. He went on to score a total of 40 goals in 89 international appearances, including that goal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup in France that was voted one of the greatest ever England goals and a memorable hat-trick against Germany in 2001.

Michael owns Manor House Stables racing yard and alongside his commercial activities, he also works as a pundit for Premier League Productions.