Michael Owen has broken his silence on the notorious ‘well done, he’s 13’ video which saw him panned for embarrassing a teenager.
The former England striker, 45, rifled multiple efforts past 13-year-old goalkeeper Jamie Hutchinson at an empty Britannia Stadium during his Michael Owen’s Soccer Skills show in 1999.
Owen, who scored 40 goals in 89 England appearances, chipped, rounded and slotted past the helpless kid, before enthusiastically celebrating.
His antics led Neville Southall to make the witty ‘he’s 13’ remark, to which the ex-Liverpool star ignored – simply replying ‘game, set and match Owen’.
And 26 years later the video is still frequently circulated on social media.
But Owen has now hit back at critics, revealing he was in fact encouraged to overcelebrate.
Michael Owen has broken his silence on the infamous ‘well done, he’s 13’ video with Southall
Owen, who scored 40 goals in 89 England appearances, chipped and slotted past the child
‘I was only a couple of years older than him myself! It’s probably funny now,’ he told talkSPORT.
‘I got back from the World Cup in 98 and there were loads of commercial opportunities, things like that.
‘I was asked to do a soccer skills video on a soccer skills book. So I had to explain, talk through, finishing, volleying, heading, whatever the skill was. Inevitably need a goalkeeper there.
‘I never picked them and so I turned up to do the show and to talk through how I see scoring a goal and what I think in certain scenarios and whatever.
‘There was a kid in goal that I had to score past and when I scored they’re like, come on, no, you need to show a bit more animation.
‘Like celebrate when you score, this is going on a video. So people don’t know this, right?
‘But people just laugh at you no matter what. Then they take a little extract of anything.
‘There’s loads of things like that on the internet on me.’
Owen’s antics led Southall to make the witty remark, to which the ex-Liverpool star ignored
Meanwhile, former Wales star Neville Southall and the young goalkeeper reunited in 2022
The young goalkeeper also later revealed that his appearance ‘wasn’t exactly ideal’.
‘It was made clear that it wouldn’t make good filming if the goalkeeper was saving all the shots taken by the other kids after they had been coached by Michael,’ he said.
Southall himself defended Owen when asked about the incident on a podcast earlier this year.
The former Wales goalkeeper said: ‘I think he was being ironic to be fair, but I think he was enjoying himself and being ironic.
‘But the poor kid, he scored a squillion goals past him and I was thinking “give him a break”.
‘On the day, Michael was okay and he’s always okay.
‘People judge him on that and that’s not him.’
Meanwhile, Southall and the young goalkeeper reunited in 2022, with the duo posing for a photo with Hutchinson wearing what appeared to be an orange and black goalkeeper kit – similar to what he wore back in 1999.
