While Michael Owen might not be the most popular former Liverpool player among Kopites these days, courtesy of his stint with Manchester United, the former pacey forward was considered something of a footballing saint for the entirety of his career.
He would be sent off just once during his time at Anfield, and that came in his first full season with the Reds for a lunge on Peter Schmeichel, moments after the baby-faced striker had equalised scoring in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in April 1998. Meanwhile, he would be booked just 10 times from 326 Premier League appearances throughout his career.
As a result, he’s hardly a player you expect to end up lashing out and scrapping on the pitch. Yet that’s exactly what happened in 2019 as he came to blows with a former Liverpool team-mate, no less.
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Owen and Jason McAteer were Reds team-mates for three seasons, and lined up together 46 times during their overlapping Anfield stints. But that didn’t stop the former colleagues from scrapping on the pitch after a feisty clash in the Star Sixes tournament in Glasgow.
And while it wasn't quite the levels of the infamous Kieron Dyer vs Lee Bowyer on-field punch-up at Newcastle United back in 2005, the heated encounter, coming in an exhibition tournament no less, inevitably still made headlines and set tongues wagging.
Captaining England and the Republic of Ireland respectively, the two would come head-to-head in their final group game with the Three Lions needing a victory to set up a final clash with a Rest of the World side.
With the scores level, McAteer would dispossess Owen in the corner before pulling the striker back as he played the ball forward. He would react angrily, kicking out at the Irishman to trip him up and send both players flying to the ground.
Owen would then square up to McAteer and shove him in the chest. Shoving him back, the midfielder would then kick the smirking England captain in the backside. He would later play this down, however.
While Owen would only receive a booking for his involvement, a furious McAteer was shown a red card. Boasting a man advantage, fellow former Red Paul Konchesky would then score to inflict a 1-0 defeat on Ireland.
“He got it wrong didn't he, the referee?” McAteer would fume to Sky Sports after the game. “We came together, we had a little pulling of the shirt and spun round, and then Michael Owen decided to lash out. I didn’t think I wanted to let him get away with it.
“The referee obviously didn’t see it, or he didn’t want to see it probably because it was England and Michael Owen, more to the point. We kind of made up a little bit, then I gave him a friendly push up the backside and the referee decided to…”
“You’ll see we come together,” he said when shown the incident back. “But then Michael Owen… How is that not a red card? How is that not a red card?
“I’ll tell you why it’s not a red card, because it’s Michael Owen and it’s England and because the officials are that bad.”
Owen would admit in the dressing room that he should have been sent off, as fellow former Liverpool team-mate David James teased the striker.
“Jason’s had his say and Nial Quinn’s saying I need to come out and defend my corner,” Owen said. “I’m not sure quite why because it’s all on camera. He pulled me, I kicked him, he kicked me back. It’s either ‘Get on with it’ or give us both a red card. Yeah, of course I did (deserve to get sent off). But I’m not saying I didn’t!”
“This is very unlike Michael Owen, you know,” James said when Owen’s England team-mates were asked if he should have been sent off. “Very unlike Michael.”
“Yeah, well, now I’m slow and old and can’t catch people,” Owen replied. “You have to kick them if you can’t catch them.”
The former team-mates would later be pictured chatting and smiling together on the sidelines, having made amends. Meanwhile, they would both make light of the incident on Twitter.
“Managed to sneak through to the final of @StarSixes,” Owen wrote after beating Ireland. “Tough game to come v The Rest Of The World. Can’t believe I escaped a red in the last game!!! Me and @MCATEER4 kissed and made up.”
Meanwhile, he would also tweet ‘Mates again’, along with a smiling emoji, when quote-retweeting a tweet from the Star Sixes after they had posted the aforementioned picture of Owen and McAteer together on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, as Robbie Fowler got involved to tease McAteer for his dismissal, he tweeted: “So........me and Michael Owen has a scuffle and he launched me then I softly kicked him up the hoop. The piss poor officials decided they didn’t see his challenge but still give him a yellow card ?? I got a red !! Simples.”
Meanwhile, despite having cooled down, McAteer would again hit out at the officials when speaking to TalkSPORT the following day.
“I’ve just managed to get my head together, I’ve calmed down now,” he said on The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show.
“Let’s clear it up, I never kicked him up the backside. I put my foot on his backside and pushed him away with my foot. There’s a difference. It was kind of like a loving push.
“I’ve got no problem with Michael Owen doing what he did. In the heat of the moment, it’s football, these things happen, we’ve kissed and made up.
“It’s the officials that I’ve got the problem with – that’s where my head’s come off.”
To add insult to injury for McAteer, Owen would go on net a brace in the final to earn England a 3-2 victory over Rest of the World as they won Star Sixes. And former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders, who had represented Wales at the tournament, would later insist the Three Lions captain should have been suspended and missed the final.
“I was right at the side of the pitch,” Saunders told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast. “Jason [McAteer] is just Mr Niggle, isn’t he? He just has a niggle at every incident.
“He’s grabbed Michael Owen’s arm and Michael has booted him. Jason’s turned around, they’ve had a square up, and then he’s put the bottom of his foot in Michael’s back, it was a complete head-loss.
“Liam Lawrence lost his head, he’s kicking the advertising boards and Michael Owen’s laughing his head off. He should’ve been banned for the final, but he played and scored two.”
Owen and McAteer weren’t the only former Liverpool players taking part in the 2019 tournament in Glasgow. As well as the aforementioned Konchesky, James, and Saunders, Emile Heskey and Joe Cole, who also scored in the final, also represented England, while Phill Babb and Richie Partridge were in the Ireland squad.
Elsewhere, Don Hutchison represented Scotland while Paul Jones played for Wales. John Aldridge and Craig Bellamy had originally been signed up to play but both would later pull out.
Owen would score the winner in the final as England twice came from behind against Rest of the World. He had originally cancelled out Martin Jorgensen's opener, before scoring the decisive goal in the Three Lions' 3-2 win following strikes from Gaizka Mendieta and Cole.
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