9 Football Legends Who Ended Up Hated By Their Fans

4. Michael Owen

Unfortunately for Owen, most people remember the striker for his injury plagued career, even despite his immediate impact when he set the world alight at the end of the 1990s. In 2004 Owen joined Real Madrid, but the former Kop hero struggled to adjust to life in Spain and after one short year in the limelight, he found himself back in the Premier League in search of playing time at Newcastle, who broke their record to sign the player who scored against them every time he played. Liverpool fans didn't particularly care about that, as Owen spent most of his time at St. James' Park injured, and left when the club were relegated, but they did take exception to his next career move. In 2009, Owen signed for bitter rivals Manchester United - a decision that destroyed all connections to Liverpool - and while the transfer itself was enough to turn the scouse against him, when Owen scored his first goal at Old Trafford in the Manchester derby to secure a 4-3 win for the Red Devils, and became a hero, Liverpool fans mutinied against the player, and reserved some serious hatred for him.