Michael Owen was never likely to end up like Paul Gascoigne, broken and bereft without football, and yet the spectre of Gazza stands over us as we discuss what the future holds now Owen’s illustrious playing career is behind him.
‘I played with him once or twice for England, so, yeah, I’ve watched (Gascoigne’s decline) with sadness,’ he says.
‘Football’s a very unnatural existence, and when it’s over you’ve got to have a purpose to wake up.
‘It’s ironic, but the people who gave me flak for building up Manor House (the stables in Cheshire where Owen’s Flat racing operation is based), who told me I’d taken my eye off the ball, are probably the same people who will be depressed in later life because they didn’t plan ahead. I’m only 33 but I like to think I’ve taken to retirement seamlessly.’
As an indication of how large racing now looms in his life, we are talking at the swanky London offices of the British Horseracing Authority, venue of Owen’s new role promoting the sport of kings. But it is a different kind of turf with which he will be forever associated.
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