Inside Michael Owen’s household

Michael Owen‘s newest mission – a documentary for TNT Sports – will seemingly stand the check of time as one of many former Liverpool icon’s most poignant items of labor. Not only for the essential material, delving into the world of sight loss and soccer, however in mild of his co-star – his 17-year-old son James. 

James was identified with uncommon genetic eye situation Stargardt illness on the age of eight, and after his sight grew to become progressively worse all through his adolescence, he’s now clinically blind. 

In an interview with Mail Sport on Thursday, each James and Owen spoke of the emotional difficulties across the query of whether or not James was set to comply with his father onto the soccer pitch. 

But the strand all through the dialog which stands out the strongest is Owen and his son’s shut relationship – which is mirrored throughout the six-person-strong Owen household as a complete. 

Here, Mail Sport takes a glance contained in the ex-England worldwide’s brood – from actuality star Gemma to youngest horse-mad daughter Jessica – and on the bond between Owen and his childhood sweetheart Louise.  

Owen met his spouse Louise Bonsall after they attended major college – then Hawarden High School – collectively in Flintshire in Wales. Despite his blistering rise via the Liverpool youth ranks, the participant saved a lid on his tutorial profession, leaving with 10 GCSEs earlier than signing his skilled contract with the Reds in 1996. 

It could be 9 years till Owen and Bonsall tied the knot, after changing into engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2004, with the marriage happening at their household dwelling. 

If Owen’s coming-of-age is outlined for his ardour for soccer, Bonsall’s is by her love of horses, which began on the age of seven when she was given her first driving classes. Her personal horse, a Welsh cob named Rolo, adopted at 14, in addition to an enduring dedication to the animals. 

Bonsall – who has a level in equine science – initially skilled dressage horses, however was only a month earlier than the couple had been engaged, Bonsall suffered a serious horse driving accident which noticed her Belgian warmblood Isobelle rear up and land on prime of her. Bonsall broke her again in two locations, and her hip and her pelvis in 5 locations, and was pressured into three weeks of restoration on the Countess of Chester hospital. 

In an interview with the Daily Mail 4 years later, Bonsall shared how the accident had made her realise she wished to ‘give again’, and switched her focus to equine rehabilitation. She additionally grew to become an envoy for the British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre, a place she nonetheless holds. 

Bonsall’s bug for horses shortly contaminated Owen, who has been vastly concerned in thoroughbred racehorse coaching via his Manor House Stables, an institution based by the couple in 2006. 

In 2014, Brown Panther gave the stables their first Group One win within the Irish St Leger, 14 years after Owen had his first triumph as an proprietor with Etienne Lady – named for his incomparable 1998 World Cup purpose towards Argentina, scored within the French city of Saint-Etienne. 

Owen and Bonsall personal various horses personally, and have handed on their love of equestrianism to their eldest and youngest daughters – 20-year-old Gemma and 13-year-old Jessica. 

Gemma specifically has inherited her mom’s curiosity in dressage. After coming into her first competitors on the age of 10, Gemma has competed internationally for Team GB, most not too long ago on the junior European Championships in 2021 when the group completed sixth. 

But her progress was dropped at a tragic pause in early 2023 when her junior group horse Sirius Black III died on the age of 18 following a ‘sudden and extreme sickness’. 

Gemma’s closeness with Bonsall over their shared love of the game was – at one level – an irritational level of rivalry for Owen, who revealed in his autobiography Reboot: My Life, My Time that he had sought remedy to cope with jealous urges.  

‘For years, due to my very own inside demons, I used to be deliberately actually arduous on Louise about topics that I knew would push her buttons most – not least her shut relationship with our daughter Gemma,’ he wrote.

‘Let me be very clear and say that none of this was in any means a mirrored image on how I felt about both Gemma or Louise. I really like them each with all of me.

‘I’d take all the things out on Louise, although. I’d accuse her of spending all her time together with her eldest and ignoring the opposite children. It wasn’t even true.’

But the extraordinarily close-knit household – and relationship between father and daughter – had been teasingly put to the check in 2022, when Gemma took half in Season 8 of Love Island. 

The look, which noticed her place second with then-boyfriend Luca Bish, helped kickstart a thriving social media influencer profession, and publicise her swimwear model OG Beachwear. 

But Owen discovered his daughter’s involvement within the hit ITV present a bit of harder to deal with, joking that he had fled the nation to participate in Channel 4’s Nations League protection of England’s tie with Germany in a bid to keep away from the nationwide dialog. 

Host Jules Breach laughingly referred to the England legend as ‘the daddy of Love Island’s Gemma Owen’ in her introduction of the pundit, earlier than asking him how he was feeling. 

‘I got here all the best way to Germany to attempt to keep away from all that again at dwelling, and you have introduced it up right away,’ Owen teased again, earlier than including: ‘I’m feeling alright thanks. Yeah. This is taking my thoughts off it, so do not convey it again up.’

After splitting with Bish in 2023, Gemma briefly dated one other scion of the sporting world, Aadam Hamed, the youngest son of British former world champion boxer Prince Naseem. 

Gemma has supplied notably shut assist to her brother, serving to increase consciousness for James’ situation on social media together with her announcement in May that she had change into an envoy for Fight for Sight UK, a charity devoted to supporting analysis to forestall sight loss. 

‘When my brother James was round 8yo he was identified with a uncommon genetic illness referred to as Stargardt Disease,’ Gemma wrote. ‘This situation progressively deteriorates imaginative and prescient from the macula and at the moment there isn’t a treatment or remedy.

‘Having intently witnessed how sight loss has affected him personally, I’m honoured to announce that I’m now an envoy for @fightforsightuk. This UK charity is funding analysis into the prevention and remedy of blindness and eye illness and has a particular place in all of my household’s hearts.

‘I’m trying ahead to working with them to assist increase funds and consciousness for analysis and developments in therapies for individuals with Stargardt Disease and different circumstances inflicting blindness.’

Whilst Gemma boasts a staggering 1.9million Instagram followers, Owen’s different kids, together with James, Jessica, and 16-year-old daughter Emily, have decidedly decrease profiles. 

However, Emily seems to have inherited her mother and father’ sporting expertise too – albeit in a special enviornment. 

The teenager was a dedicated sprinter, incessantly participating in 60m and 100m occasions as a part of the West Cheshire athletics membership – though 2023 noticed Emily compete simply twice. 

But Owen has been eager to share his daughter’s triumphs on social media, posting an image of her after selecting up her medal with the caption: ‘So so happy with my little speedball of a daughter. The season thus far: 100m U15 County Champion (gold medal emoji) 60m U15 Indoor North England Champion (gold medal emoji) English Schools U15 100m Third (bronze medal emoji)’. 

Across the household’s public social media profiles, it’s instantly evident that the group share an extremely shut and loving relationship – however as with discussing his jealousy points, Owen’s 2019 memoir was clear-eyed about discussing marital points thrown up by his choice to retire in 2013. 

The former Newcastle ahead described ‘staring into the abyss referred to as divorce’ as tensions frayed between Owen and Bonsall within the wake of the tip of his profession, however remedy – upon the advice of Manchester United membership physician Steve McNally – helped to point out him ‘what was in entrance of (him) all alongside: I deeply liked my spouse; I wholeheartedly liked my household’. 

Owen’s marriage is alleged to have been put beneath pressure once more in 2021, when the Mirror claimed that the previous striker had been sexting former Big Brother contestant Rebecca James – neither Owen nor Bonsall have publicly commented on the allegations. 

Central to the couple’s parenting, Owen has beforehand acknowledged, has been the choice to show their kids the worth of arduous work, moderately than anticipating to obtain important hand-outs. 

‘It’s actually tough from a dad or mum’s standpoint,’ he shared in 2022.

‘You wish to give your kids the very best begin and the very best likelihood. But you are all the time wrestling with the truth that if I simply make it really easy, and I can do that and try this, is she going to study from any errors?’

‘You need cash that a lot – there is a pub down the street, go and work behind the bar or one thing. That’s my view.’