Gary Owen (footballer)

For persons of a similar name, see Gary Owen (disambiguation).
Gary Owen
Personal information
Date of birth (1958-07-07) 7 July 1958
Place of birth St Helens, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
1972–1975 Manchester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1979 Manchester City 103 (19)
1979–1986 West Bromwich Albion 187 (11)
1986–1987 Panionios 23 (5)
1987–1988 Sheffield Wednesday 14 (0)
1988 Hammarby IF 2 (0)
1988–1989 APOEL 16 (4)
National team
1977–1982 England U-21 22 (4)
England B 7

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Gary Owen (born 7 July 1958) is an English retired football midfielder. With 22 caps, he is one of the most capped players for England Under-21s, but never made it into the senior team. He was also capped seven times for England B. With the under-21s he won the 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, in which he scored two goals in the final against West Germany.

Owen started his career with Manchester City, with whom he turned professional in 1975 and made his debut aged 17, against Wolverhampton Wanderers in March 1976. After winning the League Cup earlier in the year, in October 1976 Owen scored his first goal, against West Ham United.

In 1979 Owen was sold, as part of City manager Malcolm Allison's clear-out, to West Bromwich Albion for £450,000*, despite being a strong fans' favourite. At Albion, he was a regular, and although a midfielder, was awarded the number 10 shirt usually reserved for a striker, and he was also the club's first choice penalty-taker.

He suffered two broken ankles and meningitis in the 1984–85 season, and the following year, 1985–86, lost his place in the side due to his injuries. West Bromwich were relegated, and Owen joined Panionios in Greece for 1986–87. For the 1987–88 season he returned to England for a year with Sheffield Wednesday. He ended his career in season 1988–89 with APOEL in Cyprus. Before going to Cyprus, he also played two games for Swedish club Hammarby IF in 1988. It was two away games against Malmö FF and Örgryte IS for a total of 157 minutes.

Currently, Owen works as a journalist in Manchester, providing opinion on Manchester City in the Manchester Evening News and on local radio station, Century FM. He also has an art dealership, "Gary Owen Fine Art".

(*) According to some sources, the fee was £550,000.

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