Michael Owen says his first Premier League hat-trick for Liverpool against Sheffield Wednesday is a moment he still cherishes.
Aged 18 and 62 days, the striker netted a treble at Hillsborough in a thrilling 3-3 draw in February 1998, becoming the youngster Premier League player to score a hat-trick at the time, a record which still stands to this day.
Wednesday led through Benito Carbone before Owen got his first. The Owls scored two more to go 3-1 up thanks to Paolo Di Canio and Andy Hinchcliffe but Owen bagged two in five minutes to complete a remarkable afternoon for the teenager.
He told The Star via Casino Groups: “Moments like that as a young kid, scoring a hat trick in the Premier League, they're amazing. And obviously Sheffield Wednesday in the day were a huge team. Their stadium was one of the biggest in the Premier League. They were so well supported. They were just a mainstay of the Premier League. At the time, it was a great achievement. It was obviously a massive moment at the time when I did it. It is definitely a moment I cherish. I've still got the match-ball.”
Owen went on to have an incredible career with Liverpool, Real Madrid, Manchester United and England among others, winning several honours and individual accolades. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2001 and is still the last Englishman to win the prestigious award.
The season before his hat-trick at S6, Owen made his full Liverpool Premier League debut at Hillsborough, which he explained was ‘amazing’, and one particular moment sticks in his mind.
He said: “Starting away at Sheffield Wednesday, I always remember coming in at half time. Me and Stan Collymore started up front and the manager said ‘right, I'm going to make a change’ and I was like ‘oh no’ because I thought I played quite well. And he went ‘Stan, you're coming off.’ And I was like ‘oh my God!’ We'd only just signed Stan Collymore for £8.5m, which was a lot of money back then, and was leaving me on. I just couldn't couldn't believe it. But yeah, that was a happy memory.
“Teams like Wimbledon and Sheffield Wednesday were huge parts of my launch of my career. Wimbledon was my debut, and then my main starting debut was Sheffield Wednesday. And then the first game of the next season was Wimbledon again, and I scored again. And then my first hat-trick was only a few games later against Sheffield Wednesday again. So those two teams were a big part of my yeah launch I’d say.”