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Owen Hargreaves

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Owen Hargreaves
File:2011-07-11. LIFELINE ... Owen Hargreaves
Personal information
Full name Owen Lee Hargreaves
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1][2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1994–1997 Calgary Foothills
1997–2000 Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Bayern Munich II 15 (4)
2000–2007 Bayern Munich 145 (5)
2007–2011 Manchester United 27 (2)
International career‡
2000–2001 England U21 3 (0)
2006 England B 1 (0)
2001–2008 England 42 (0)
2011- Canada 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:46, 6 December 2010 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:34, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is currently a free agent having been released by Manchester United in July 2011.

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Hargreaves played with Calgary Foothills as a youth before beginning his professional football career in Germany with Bayern Munich. After seven years with the Munich side – during which time he won four German league titles and the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League – Hargreaves signed for Manchester United in 2007, winning the Premier League and UEFA Champions League in his first season there. Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed on 22 May 2011 that the injury-hit midfielder would not be offered a new contract when his deal expired in July 2011.

As a Canadian with a Welsh mother and an English father, Hargreaves was eligible to represent Canada, Wales or England. He opted to play for the England U-21 team in 2000 and was capped by the senior squad the following year. He is the only player to have played for England without having previously lived in the United Kingdom, and only the second to have done so without having previously played in the English football league system (the first being Joe Baker).[citation needed]

Early life

Hargreaves was born in Calgary, Alberta, as the youngest of three children of Margaret and Colin Hargreaves, who had emigrated from the United Kingdom at the start of the 1980s.[3] His father played football for the Bolton Wanderers youth side[4] and also for the Calgary Kickers of the Canadian Soccer League. He is the only member of his family born in Canada. His brother Darren and his mother were both born in Wales, his other brother Neil and his father were born in England.[4]

Club career

Bayern Munich

Hargreaves moved at the age of sixteen from Calgary Foothills to Bayern Munich[5] on 1 July 1997. He played in the Under-19 team for two and a half years before spending six months with the Amateur team. While with the Under-19s the team reached the final of the German Championship in 1998. They lost in the final to Borussia Dortmund, but only after a penalty shoot-out in Dortmund's Stadion Rote Erde.

On 12 August 2000, Hargreaves played in his first Bundesliga match, making an appearance as a substitute for Carsten Jancker in the 83rd minute. His first start came against SpVgg Unterhaching on 16 September 2000. That season the club were Bundesliga champions and also claimed the UEFA Champions League crown. Hargreaves is one of only two English players to have won a Champions League medal with a non-English club, the other being two-time winner Steve McManaman (who won the Champions League with Real Madrid).

In the 2001–02 season Hargreaves established himself as a first team regular. He made 46 appearances in all, with the club finishing third in the Bundesliga, making the quarter finals of the Champions League and being defeated in the DFB Cup by Schalke. The club regained their Bundesliga title in 2002–03, along with the DFB Cup. On 26 January 2003, Hargreaves scored his first Bundesliga goal in the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Altogether he made 25 Bundesliga appearances, four in Cup games and three in the Champions League.

2002–03 saw Hargreaves out injured on three separate occasions. In September he tore a thigh muscle, then in October a calf muscle. Towards the end of the season adductor problems meant he missed a further three weeks.

The 2003–04 season was Hargreaves' first with Bayern without winning any silverware. After clinching the double the year before, the Munich side finished second in the Bundesliga, and were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid. Hargreaves made a total of 38 appearances for the club in this season. In 2004–05 he picked up another German championship and DFB Cup. He had 27 appearances in the Bundesliga (one goal), played in three Cup games (two goals) and eight Champions League games. In the 2005–06 season, he added another Bundesliga and Cup title. Hargreaves scored the first goal at the new Allianz Arena in a competitive match on 5 August 2005, against Borussia Mönchengladbach. In all, he had 15 (one goal) league, four (two goals) cup and three Champions League appearances. In October 2005, he extended his contract at Bayern for another four years.

In the 2006–07 season, Hargreaves broke his leg, which kept him out of most of Bayern Munich's league campaign that season. He recovered in time to take part in Bayern's victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League, progressing after an aggregate score of 4–4 thanks to their two away goals in the 3–2 defeat in the first leg at Madrid's Bernabéu.

Manchester United

Hargreaves with Paul Scholes after Manchester United's defeat to Manchester City on 10 February 2008

On 31 May 2007, it was announced that Hargreaves would join Manchester United on 1 July 2007, after almost a year of negotiations between Bayern Munich and United for a fee of around £17 million.[6] Hargreaves was finally unveiled as a Manchester United player on 1 July, having signed a four-year contract with the club. He was then revealed to the press on 9 July, along with fellow newcomer Nani. Hargreaves was given the number 4 shirt at Old Trafford.

Hargreaves made his Manchester United debut in a friendly against Peterborough United on 4 August, coming on as a second half substitute in United's 3–1 victory. He made his first Premier League appearance in Manchester United's third game of the season, in the derby match away to Manchester City in a 1–0 defeat. Hargreaves scored his first league goal for Manchester United against Fulham on 1 March, a free kick from just outside the penalty box.[7] He scored his second league goal for the club on 13 April, a free kick winner against Arsenal.[8] In his first season with Manchester United they won the Premier League and Champions League titles.

The start of Hargreaves' second season at United was hampered by injuries, specifically a recurring patellar tendinitis problem that restricted him to sporadic appearances in 2008–09. After trips to specialists in both London and Sweden yielded no results, Hargreaves travelled to Colorado, United States, in November 2008 to visit renowned knee surgeon, Richard Steadman.[9][10] Hargreaves underwent surgery on his right knee on 10 November 2008 and received a similar operation on his left knee in January 2009. However, this meant that Hargreaves would miss the remainder of the 2008–09 season, ultimately meaning he would miss out on a second Premier League title and a League Cup winner's medal.[11] Hargreaves underwent his rehabilitation programme in the United States, and was due to return to training with Manchester United at the Audi Cup in Munich. However, upon assessment, it was decided that he should continue with his rehabilitation in the United States.[12] Hargreaves returned to Manchester United on 23 September 2009, joined by his physiotherapist for a week to aid the transition process and for the club to understand his rehabilitation programme.[13]

In January 2010, it was speculated that Hargreaves was initially slated to return in time for Manchester United's Champions League first knockout round tie against Milan, despite not being fully match-fit.[14] However, on 4 February 2010, Hargreaves suffered a major setback to his World Cup hopes as Sir Alex Ferguson omitted him from the squad for the knockout stage in favour of Belgian defender Ritchie De Laet.[15] It was expected that Hargreaves would make his return from injury in a reserve team match against Manchester City on 11 March,[16] but on the day of the match, Hargreaves pulled out of the game to continue with his training regime.[17] He eventually made his comeback a week later, playing for 45 minutes of Manchester United's reserve team match against Burnley on 18 March.[18] On 24 April, Hargreaves was named as an unused substitute for the first-team match against Tottenham Hotspur.[19]

On 2 May 2010, Hargreaves made his Premier League return in the 93rd minute of United's penultimate game of the season against Sunderland.[20] It was his first Premier League action since a 1–1 draw with Chelsea in September 2008, in which time he had missed 113 matches in 20 months.[21] Despite this, Hargreaves missed the beginning of the 2010–11 season, having suffered another injury, for which he travelled to the United States to see a specialist. On September 24, manager Sir Alex Ferguson announced that Hargreaves had returned to training.[22] On 6 November 2010, he made his first start since September 2008 against Wolverhampton Wanderers, however it was short-lived after a hamstring injury forced his withdrawal for Bébé just five minutes into the match, which United went on to win 2–1.[23]

On 22 May 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed that the club would not offer Hargreaves a new contract, sparking rumours about his subsequent retirement.[24] At the end of the 2010–11 season his contract expired and he left the club. Hargreaves later posted videos on YouTube of him exercising, in order to prove his fitness to potential clubs.[25][26]

International career

Born in Canada to a Welsh mother and an English father, Hargreaves was eligible to play international football for any one of England, Wales or Canada.[3] As a youngster he was a regular in the youth setups of Wales,[27] and was set to make his début for the Wales U21 team against the Belarus U21 team in September 2000 but pulled out of the squad after he was approached by England.[3] On 31 August 2000, the then England U21 manager, Howard Wilkinson, called the 19-year-old into his squad for the match against Georgia. The game, played at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, ended in a 6–1 win for the home team. Further appearances for the U21s followed in friendlies against Italy and Spain.

Hargreaves played his first full international game on 15 August 2001 against the Netherlands at White Hart Lane, giving him the distinction of being the only player to appear for England despite having never lived in England. He was also the second player (after Joe Baker) to have appeared for England without having played in English league football and the first to appear for England without having played in Britain. In only his second cap he came on as a substitute as England famously beat Germany 5–1 in the Olympiastadion. Hargreaves was the only player playing outside the Premier League to be selected for England's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad. Hargreaves was injured after just fifteen minutes of England's second Group game against Argentina and had to be substituted.

Although he had not usually been part of the first-team, he was selected for the England squads at Euro 2004 in Portugal and the 2006 World Cup in Germany despite criticism from sections of the press and public. The generally negative perception of him by English fans had not been helped by his seeming to have an essence of "German-ness", exacerbated by his Canadian accent and fluency in German.[28] However, in a tournament in which England were generally regarded as having underachieved, he was, by the end of England's participation, widely considered one of the few successes of the English squad. He was named Man of the match in the quarter final against Portugal, the game in which England were eliminated after a penalty shootout, Hargreaves having been the only successful English penalty taker. In 2006, he won both England Player of the Year, and England Player of the World Cup in official FA polls, the first to win both in the same year.

Hargreaves picked up the Man of the match award in England's 4–0 win over Greece on 16 August 2006. On 30 January 2007 he was voted England Player of the Year 2006, as voted for by visitors to the Official FA site.[29]

In June 2007, FIFA announced that Hargreaves and Philipp Lahm would visit South Africa in advance support for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[30]

International career statistics

National team Club Season Apps Goals
England Bayern Munich 2001 2 0
2002 8 0
2003 5 0
2004 9 0
2005 5 0
2006 8 0
2007 2 0
Manchester United 2008 3 0
Total 42 0

Statistics accurate as of match played 6 November 2010[31]

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other[nb 1] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bayern Munich 2000–01 14 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 20 0
2001–02 29 0 4 0 1 0 13 0 2 0 49 0
2002–03 25 1 5 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 35 2
2003–04 25 2 3 0 1 0 6 0 0 0 35 2
2004–05 27 1 3 2 0 0 8 0 0 0 38 3
2005–06 16 1 5 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 24 3
2006–07 9 0 1 0 2 0 5 0 0 0 17 0
Total 145 5 22 5 6 0 43 0 2 0 218 10
Manchester United 2007–08 23 2 3 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 34 2
2008–09 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
2009–10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2010–11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 27 2 3 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 39 2
Career total 172 7 25 5 6 0 52 0 2 0 257 12

Statistics accurate as of match played 6 November 2010[32][33]

Honours

Club

Bayern Munich
Manchester United

Individual

Notes

  1. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Club World Cup

References

  1. ^ "Owen Hargreaves". Manchester United. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Player Profile: Owen Hargreaves". Premier League. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b c "Wales under-21 squad blow". BBC Sport. 23 August 2000. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Owen Hargreaves column". BBC. 14 March 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  5. ^ "Why can't Canada be there? Beats me". Winnipeg Sun. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  6. ^ "Hargreaves completes Man Utd move". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 July 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
  7. ^ "Fulham 0–3 Man Utd". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 March 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  8. ^ "Man Utd 2–1 Arsenal". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 13 April 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  9. ^ Thompson, Gemma; Hibbs, Ben (7 November 2008). "Wes out, Fletcher a doubt". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  10. ^ Tutton, Mark (3 March 2009). "The doctor who saved Owen Hargreaves' career". CNN. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  11. ^ Bernstein, Joe (18 January 2009). "United's Hargreaves undergoes second knee operation to save career". Mail Online. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  12. ^ "Hargreaves comeback put in doubt". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  13. ^ Hibbs, Ben (28 August 2009). "Hargreaves close to return". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  14. ^ Bailey, Richard (22 January 2010). "Fergie includes Hargreaves". Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  15. ^ Ducker, James (4 February 2010). "Hargeaves struggling to make World Cup finals". The Times. London. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
  16. ^ "Manchester United's Owen Hargreaves set to make return". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  17. ^ "Manchester United's Owen Hargreaves to wait for return". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  18. ^ "Owen Hargreaves makes Manchester United comeback". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  19. ^ McNulty, Phil (24 April 2010). "Man Utd 3–1 Tottenham". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  20. ^ Ornstein, David (2 May 2010). "Sunderland 0–1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  21. ^ Lyon, Sam (2 May 2010). "Live – Sunday football". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  22. ^ "Man Utd's Owen Hargreaves to miss start of new season". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  23. ^ Chowdhury, Saj (6 November 2010). "Man Utd 2–1 Wolverhampton". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  24. ^ Cass, Bob (22 May 2011). "It's all over for Hargreaves as Ferguson confirms midfielder's exit". Daily Mail. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  25. ^ "Owen Hargreaves uses YouTube in bid to prove fitness". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  26. ^ Austin, Simon (13 July 2011). "Leicester manager Eriksson in dark over Owen Hargreaves". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  27. ^ "Wales wont give up on Hargreaves". BBC Sport. 29 August 2000. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  28. ^ Kessel, Anna (4 June 2006). "He's feted in Munich, but slated in England". The Observer. London. Retrieved 4 June 2006.
  29. ^ "Owen's honour". The FA. 30 January 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2007.[dead link]
  30. ^ "Hargreaves and Lahm to visit South Africa". FIFA.com. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  31. ^ "Premier League – Hargreaves out for five weeks". eurosport.yahoo.com. 9 November 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  32. ^ "Owen Hargreaves". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
  33. ^ "Owen Hargreaves Database". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 11 August 2010.

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