Owen Hargreaves

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).

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. His father...
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