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Simon Duke

Love Island star Gemma Owen's St James' Park past as toddler when dad Michael played for Newcastle

The name that raised the most eyebrows from this year's Love Island line-up was Gemma Owen, daughter of football icon Michael.

In a big change of tact to how the contestants for the ITV dating show are revealed to the public, bosses drip fed the unveiling across Monday morning and into the afternoon, with each single being confirmed one-by-one. And it was when clocking Gemma's second name and reading her talking about her dad being a famous footballer, that many viewers clocked whose daughter she was.

Ahead of the new series of Love Island starting on Monday, Gemma has had a lot of people talking about her online, with many questioning whether Michael, an unexpected contestant on the last series of The Masked Singer, will be tuning in to watch.

And, while there's still a question mark hanging over that one, Gemma was very much a keen supporter of her dad's, during his not too successful time at Newcastle United. There was a great fanfare when the young England hero made the switch from Real Madrid to the Magpies in the summer of 2005.

Newcastle United's new signing Michael Owen carries his daughter, Gemma, as he is introduced to the fans at St James' Park on August 31, 2005 (Getty Images)

However, after a good start, which saw him score a hat trick in a 4-2 win over West Ham in December of that year, things went wrong for Michael and his new club when he broke a metatarsal bone in his foot, ruling him out for months. The situation got even worse when Michael sustained a knee injury while playing for England in the 2006 World Cup within the first minute of a tie against Sweden. That injury led to him being out for nearly a year and led to a high profile case for compensation.

Gemma's dad record for Newcastle picked up slightly in early 2008, under Kevin Keegan, where he scored six goals in six games and finishing that season with 11 in total. After the following season started with Michael coming down with a bout of bumps, he scored four times, but that was nowhere near enough to stop Newcastle from being relegated.

Michael Owen waves to fans as he carries his daughter, Gemma, after signing for Newcastle United at St James' Park on August 31, 2005. (Newcastle United via Getty Image)

However, in the happier days at the start of Owen's time at Newcastle, Gemma was often in the stands and even on the pitch at St James. Still only 19, she was just a very young toddler at the time. One memorable set of images saw Michael carry Gemma onto the SJP turf as he was paraded in front of legions of fans after signing from Madrid.

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