OWEN'S HOME PARK HEROICS

This season’s final round of Premiership action will see a number of star players call time on their careers, including former Liverpool, Real Madrid and England striker Michael Owen.

We will now look back at a game which Owen featured in before his rise to fame when he starred for England schools in a match played at Home Park on Friday 3^rd March 1995 against Belgium.

England won 7-0 on the night, with Owen scoring four times, before finding the back of the net three years later for the England senior side against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup in France.

We will now look at the fortunes of Michael and his colleagues who appeared that night at Home Park, many of whom would later ply their trade in the South West.

Gareth Stewart (Blackburn Rovers): Gareth joined AFC Bournemouth after being released by Blackburn Rovers in 1998 and also had spells in non-league football with Dorchester Town and Welling United. He is currently employed as Player/Goalkeeping Coach at Yeovil Town, where he has served under both Terry Skiverton and Gary Johnson.

Richard Cooper (Nottingham Forest): Richard carved out a career with York City, Alfreton Town and Eastwood Town before he was forced to retire through injury. He is currently first team coach at Mansfield Town.

Michael Ball (Everton): On establishing himself in the Everton first team as a teenager, Michael was handed his one and only England cap in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s first game in charge against Spain in 2001, which England won 3-0. He joined Rangers in the following summer for £6million, but injuries prevented from realising his true potential. Later had spells with PSV Eindhoven, Manchester City and Leicester City.

Steve Haslam (Sheffield Wednesday): The captain of the side, Steve made the breakthrough with his boyhood heroes Sheffield Wednesday. He remained at Hillsborough until 2004 when he then embarked on spells with Halifax Town (twice), Northampton Town, Bury and Hartlepool United. He currently combines working as a Academy coach at Wednesday with playing for AFC Fylde.

Wes Brown (Manchester United): Wes, who was on the score sheet that night, is still plying his trade in the Premiership with Sunderland, Wes Brown lifted a huge amount of silverware whilst with Manchester United, including seven Premier League titles, two FA Cups, three league cups and two Champions League titles. He was also capped by England 23 times and scored once.

James Hibburt (Crystal Palace): A scorer of two goals that night, James signed a professional contract with the Eagles before dropping into the South East non-league scene with Woking and Ashford Town.

Mark Jones (Wolves): After failing to break into the Wolves side on a regular basis, Mark moved to Chesterfield and Raith Rovers in search of first team football before dropping into West Midlands non-league football with Hednesford Town in 2002.

Richard Kell (Middlesbrough): A native of the North East, Richard headed to the South West for his first taste of league football when he joined Torquay United in the 2000-01 season, initially on loan before making the deal permanent. He was part of the Torquay side which beat Barnet on the final day of the campaign to avoid relegation from the Football League. The Barnet encounter proved to be his final game for the Gulls as then returned north to join Scunthorpe United where he remained until 2005 when he joined Barnsley. Spells at Scarborough and Lincoln City followed before he retired through injury. He is currently working as a commercial airline pilot.

Kenny Lunt (Crewe Alexandra): A graduate of Dario Gradi’s famed Crewe Alexandra academy, Kenny spent seven years at Gresty Road and progressed to become club captain. He left the Alex in 2006 to join Sheffield Wednesday and spent three years with the Owls, during which time he returned to Crewe on loan twice, before he signed for Hereford United in 2009. After making over 100 appearances in three years for the Bulls, Lunt signed for League of Wales side Bala Town in 2012.

Mick O’Brien (Everton):  Following his release by the Toffees, Mick joined Torquay United where he played alongside Evertonian goalkeeping great Neville Southall. The highlights of his time at Plainmoor include scoring a David Beckham-esque free-kick against QPR in the FA Cup and appearing in the Gulls’ final-day decider against Barnet, where he appeared alongside Richard Kell. On his release from Plainmoor in 2001 he returned to the North West to join Chester City. He is currently a coach at Everton’s youth academy.

Aaron Brown (Bristol City): After making his debut for Bristol City in 1998, Aaron established himself as a first team regular at Ashton Gate and remained with the Robins until 2004 when he joined QPR. His time at Loftus Road was plagued by injury and he was loaned out to Torquay United, Cheltenham Town and Swindon Town. He joined Swindon on a permanent basis in 2006 where he stayed for one season before moving on to Gillingham, Lincoln City, Wrexham and Darlington before he joined his current club Bath City in 2012. He also had a loan spell with Exeter City earlier in his career.

Michael Owen (Liverpool): As the scorer of four goals on the night, Michael Owen underlined his potential as a future star of English football. Three years later, after breaking into the Liverpool first team, Owen was part of the England squad that played in the 1998 World Cup in France and scored twice in the competition, including England’s second goal in their second round match against Argentina-which helped him to win the BBC Sports’ Personality of the Year award for 1998.

In 2001, Michael helped Liverpool to win the treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup and scored a hat-trick for England in their 5-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Germany, which helped Michael to secure the Ballon d’Or award for 2001. He joined Real Madrid in 2004, where he remained for one year before spells with Newcastle United, Manchester United, where he won a Premiership winners’ medal in 2011 and Stoke City prior to the announcement of his retirement at the end of the 2012-13 season. Michael is England’s fourth top scorer of all-time with 40 goals from 89 caps.

Shayne Bradley (Southampton): Shayne was Michael Owen’s strike partner in that team and made four appearances for Southampton between 1998 and 2000, during which time he was loaned out to Swindon Town and Exeter City. In 2000, he joined Mansfield Town and helped the Stags to win promotion from Division Three in the 2001-02 season. He then left Field Mill in 2002 and had spells with Eastwood Town, Chesterfield and Lincoln City before an ankle injury ended his career in 2003. He is currently managed Tuffley Rovers in the Gloucestershire County League.

Jamie Burt (Newcastle United): After being let go by Newcastle United due off-the-field problems in 1999, Jamie finally made it back into professional football in 2001 with Chesterfield after spells with Blyth Spartans, Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby Town. He remained with the Spireites until 2004 when he was released by their then manager Roy McFarland when he rejoined Scarborough.

Jamie Day (Arsenal): As the only member of the Lilleshall class of 95 to enter management, Jamie led Welling United to the Blue Square Conference South title this season, thus ending their 12-year exile from the top-flight of non-league football.

After failing to make the grade at Arsenal, Jamie joined AFC Bournemouth for a fee of £20,000 in 1999 before dropping down into the South East non-league scene with Dover Athletic in 2001. Spells with Crawley Town, Welling, Grays Athletic, Eastbourne Borough, Havant & Waterlooville and Dartford followed prior to his appointment at Park View Road in 2009.

Matthew Cooper (Tottenham Hotspur): Matthew is believed to be living and working in his native Essex.