Main content

Michael Owen: “I'd swap eyes with my son if I couldâ€

The former England striker and his son James, deteriorating sight and the game of futsal.

We've got an extra Access All podcast this week.

Former England striker Michael Owen and his son James came into the Access All studio in London to talk about how James is losing his sight, their attitude towards it, and the inclusive football game, futsal.

Parents often feel real guilt when a child becomes disabled but, though it hurts, the Owens attempt a constant positivity.

They present a documentary on TNT Sport and Discovery Plus on Monday 30 January called Football Is For Everyone where they meet the GB partially sighted futsal team. Though he's been losing his sight for nine years, James hadn't met another visually impaired person until they started filming the documentary.

Watch out for the moment the tables turn and Michael starts to interview presenter, Emma Tracey ...

Recorded and mixed by Dave O'Neill, produced by Beth Rose, Emma Tracey and Niamh Hughes. The editor is Damon Rose, senior editor Sam Bonham.

Drop Emma a mail on accessall@bbc.co.uk
follow @bbcaccessall on X and say "Alexa, ask the Â鶹ԼÅÄ for Access All"

Release date:

Available now

23 minutes

Transcript

Ìý

23rd January 2024

bbc.co.uk/accessall

Access All – Michael and James Owen Special

Presented by Emma Tracey

Ìý

Ìý

Ìý

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Hi, this is Emma Tracey and you’re listening to an extra episode of Access All. And I’m on a train, as you can hear from all the noises around me, and I’m hot-footing it back to Scotland so that Storm Jocelyn doesn’t catch up with me. But luckily I didn’t have to do so before I got to speak to 17 year-old James Owen and his dad, legendary footballer, Michael Owen. James Owen is visually impaired, and we’re always really interested on Access All about how families manage. And honestly, Michael talks so brilliantly here about how he’s gotten his head around having a son with low vision, which is fantastic. And they both start interviewing me at one point which is quite something.

[Clip]

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Anything else James before we finish? Because I’m quite enjoying this now, talking about myself.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Who’s interviewing who?

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah, exactly [laughter].

[End of clip]

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I really hope you enjoy it:

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I am so delighted to have two VIPs in the Access All studio today. I’ve got James Owen and his legendary football dad, Michael Owen. You’re so welcome. Thank you for coming.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It’s great to be here. Really pleased to be here and thank you for having us.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Well, you’ve got a documentary coming out about partially sighted futsal, which is an indoor football game which has been adapted for visually impaired people. And the reason that you’ve been talking about that is because James is visually impaired and managed to give futsal a go. How has it been making the documentary?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Oh, I mean, this has been a surreal experience really. It’s been quite a while; it’s been halted due to COVID, so on the documentary I actually look quite a lot younger. I’ve definitely grown quite a lot since then.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I actually could hear you growing in confidence throughout. And by the end of it you really were very confident going to places by yourself, asking your own questions. Did it feel like that, like a bit of a process?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah, I would say so. The documentary has helped me grow as a person and, I don’t know. But the whole experience has been brilliant and I’ve made a lot of friends along the way.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý How has the documentary helped you grow as a person, do you think?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Well, when I was a lot younger I never used to talk about, well, my eyesight, and I never really used to talk about anything really. I used to be quite shy as a kid. That’s partly to do with the documentary and also partly to do with my dad, because I’ve started being more social now, I would say. I would go to the races with, like, the horses. I’ve got a big interest in horses. And it was just nice to meet people who’ve also got an eye condition just to almost get something off your chest, you know. Because I’ve never met anyone with an eye condition before going on to the documentary.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý So, you’ve never met someone with an eye condition, how is that? I mean, usually there would be some groups, some opportunities. Was it something you didn’t want to do?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I wouldn’t say it’s not something I would want to do. It’s just you just never really see it. And a lot of people wouldn’t even, when they meet me, they wouldn’t even think I’ve got a visual impairment in the first place. It’s not something which we rarely even talk about, to be honest. It’s just something I live with, so I’ve just got normal mates, I do normal things with my mates. It’s just sometimes I have different ways of getting around it.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah. We’ve talked about you having a visual impairment but we haven’t actually chatted much about what it is. Stargardt’s disease is what you were diagnosed with. What is that and how does it affect your eyesight?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I was diagnosed when I was eight years old. And it is a deterioration disease in your eye where I think the central vision is blurry and is less than a normal person’s. I struggle with seeing different colours and all stuff like that, with different lights. I’ve got good peripheral vision, so that’s something which will stay. But it does get worse over time, which is the more scary part of it from other people’s point of view.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý So, what are the strategies and different ways you get around things? You’re at college, hanging around with your mates, what kinds of strategies do you put in place or what tech do you use? We’re very geeky here on Access All about stuff like this.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah, I mean there’s loads of things. Just little things like picking up what people sound like or noticing what people are wearing. So, I’d notice what colour my dad’s jumper, let’s say, would be. So, if I ever go out then I would be able to recognise him from the colour of his jumper, not from his face, because obviously I struggle with detail.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah. And you know my husband’s visually impaired and when the kids were toddlers we used to make them wear really bright clothes so that he could see them in the playground and stuff like that.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Michael, we’ve talked about James’ experience of it, but as a dad around diagnosis time what kinds of feelings were you having? What was going through your mind?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Well, as James said, it was about when he was eight years old when he was first diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease. Of course that’s a hammer blow to a parent. You just want and you think, and he is [laughs], but you want everything to be perfect. Of course it was a sad time, thinking about the future, thinking about how that’s going to compromise his life, you know, will he be able to drive, will he be able to work, what jobs will be there for him, and all these things run through your mind. So, of course, it’s like anything, time is a great healer. And in James’ case he’s developed so much as a human being as well, and it’s been easy to put it to the back of your mind and just to get on with life. James is very positive. He wasn’t necessarily so positive early on, but certainly in the last five, six, seven, eight years he’s become a real positive lad. And to be honest, we never speak about his condition; he gets treated like everybody else. We have some positives now – I mean, I’m a very positive thinker, just naturally, I’m very fortunate like that – but I’ll get to spend more time with him because I’ll be driving him around and things like that.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And you can see a future for him now. It sounds like he’s adapted well now; you can see a future for him. Was that always a worry about what his future would be?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I guess it was, you know, ten years ago. But I’ve got four children and if I said to you I’m probably least worried about James’ future than any of the others.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Why is that? That’s so interesting.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý He’s just mentally very, very strong. He’s positive about things. He’s got a great mindset. And his condition won’t stop him. In his mind, and in my mind, we’ve worked on the theory over time that yes, you’ve been dealt a bad hand, yes there’s things that you can’t do that I’d love you to and you’d love to do, however what are we going to do? Are we going to sit here and cry all our lives or are we going to make the best of it? And he has just taken the bull by the horns and he will make a positive out of his life, there’s no question about it.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý We often hear about mum guilt, but I’ve seen you, Michael, talk about dad guilt. It’s actually quite hard, isn’t it, for a parent to see your kid go through anything. And obviously when we were finding out what James’ eye condition was there must have been procedures and things like that. That’s hard as well, isn’t it?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It is, yeah. You’re pushing your son forward to get something you know is going to be painful, you know it’s going to sting all day, he doesn’t want it. Ìý

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Like drops and stuff like that?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Exactly, anything like that, people prodding away at his eyes and sticking things in them and all the rest of it as a kid. It’s just horrible to see your son not enjoying it and then being in pain and all the rest of it. So, it’s very difficult. You want to take all the pain away. You want to swap with him; if I could give him my eyes and we’d do a swap then I would tomorrow of course. But again, you can mope all your life. And I get tired of thinking about it and thinking what if and all the rest of it. We just are so positive. We do all the things. I've got a weekend off this weekend and me and him will be together. I wouldn’t want to spend my time with anyone else, type of thing. We’ll be out in town, we’ll be watching racing on the television, and he won’t be able to see it but he’ll be able to hear the commentary, and we’ll be messing about, and we’ll be listening to the football and watching that.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Because racing’s really fast, isn’t it? It must be very hard to see the detail of racing actually.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Exactly.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And did you get, did you look for help and did you get support? And is there enough support? That’s a lot of questions in one. So, did you look for help and support, and did you get it?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Well, when we were made aware of what it was of course then there’s a whole new world out there. It’s awkward because you want, some people want to turn away from it and just put it to the back of my mind and everything else, and then some people are really at the forefront and wanting to know absolutely everything. Now, I’m a positive thinker, as I said, and we make the absolute very best of life. However, I would say in the scientific side of things I am one that sits back, tries to do my bit in terms of earning as much money for the charities as possible, hope that the next thing comes out that can maybe benefit James and other partially sighted people. But I’m not, sort of, phoning the doctors every day saying, ‘Anything out there yet that’s going to make him see better?’

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý So, you’re not spending your energy and desperate for a cure, but you’re working in the best way you can to move things forward?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah, I think that’s fair, that’s a fair analogy of it. I’m obviously desperate, desperate, I mean I would pay every cent that I’ve got to make James see again, I’d walk the other end of the world to make him see better, but…

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And would you want that, James?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Would I want?

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý For all the visual impairment to go away?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Well, if I could get my eyes to be fixed tomorrow of course that’s, like, a no-brainer. I’d love to be able to drive, I’d love to be able to see my friends and family.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah. Part of your identity you have now is the person you are and the eyesight you have, and the people you’ve met some of them have been through that, and the choices you’ve made – and we’re going to go on to football in a second – they’ve probably been based in some ways around being visually impaired. Would life not be very different now if you went back, if your eyesight went the other way?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I’m sure it’d be different in many ways, but I definitely think I would still get on with all the people from futsal.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý James, do you have any questions for me as an older – I mean, I am a totally blind person, it is a bit different – but have you any questions for me?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Um…

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I have [laughter]. What’s your biggest challenge? And how do you cope with obviously your impairment?

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Oh, my biggest challenge…

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý You obviously have amazing adapting strategies.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý James does as well. But is there anything that prevents you from…?

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I’m not brilliant at getting around. Some blind people are. My spatial awareness and sense of direction isn’t brilliant. So, it’s not necessarily blind people all over the world. But I wouldn’t be brilliant at getting around. So, driving I think was something that I would like the technology to arrive for me to do. I could talk about this all day. I’ve been blind from birth and being able to see now would ruin my life because I’ve built a life around not being able to see, and I would have to teach myself to see. And I’ve already got two children and a job and a big life, and it would just take up too much of my time learning how to see.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Wow.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And I think with parenting it’s other people’s perceptions and it’s the normal things around parenting, it’s not actually running after the children or anything.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý That’s fascinating.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Because from our point of view, and you asked the question earlier which made me think a little bit, but when you said, are you sure you would want to see, not if the technology was out there but yeah, if it was out there to actually improve your vision where would you say you’d be almost perfectly happy not to be able to see for the rest of your life?

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah. I mean, if you brought a cure up to me and said it would be easy and painless and actually we have a course that could teach you to see in a couple of weeks I might change my mind, you know. But at the minute it all would feel like it would just take up a lot of my time, and I’m quite happy as I am.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And you say your partner as well is partially sighted. To what level?

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I don’t really understand because I can’t see, but he’s got albinism. So, I think he finds it hard to see detail from far away. So, what James was saying about people’s clothes colours, and you wouldn’t be looking for a house number, you’d be looking for the colour of the fence or whatever.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah, definitely.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Things like that. So, I think he can see very detail up close, but further away it’s harder for him. But I don’t actually know because I haven’t really talked to him about it that much. And again, he’s always been visually impaired so he doesn’t really know what other people can see either. So, it’s not a conversation, like you guys, it’s not a conversation that happens in our house really.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It is incredible, isn’t it, because people have been asking James when we’ve been doing interviews leading up to the launch of the documentary, and they’re asking him questions, ‘Well what can you see?’ he’s like, ‘I don’t know, I just... My dad will probably be able to tell you how my visual, because he can in theory see properly and he can explain what it is’. But James finds it hard as well to answer that question.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And we don’t talk about it either that much.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Well, yeah, we just don’t need to, do you know. And the kids know.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Are the kids visually impaired?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý That’s what I was going to ask.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Oh, that’s a question every taxi driver asks me that I get into. If we get into that part of the conversation they always ask me that. They are fully sighted, yes, so they do, they very happily take advantage of us from time to time. But they’re absolutely brilliant as well.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Wonderful.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And this is their world and, you know, I think they’re happy in it.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý That’s amazing.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Anything else, James, before we finish? Because I’m quite enjoying this now, talking about myself.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Who’s interviewing who? [Laughter]

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Exactly.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It’s still a bit of shock that you’re quite happy being where you are. I mean, I’m quite happy being the way I am, but I would definitely prefer to be able to drive and have a bit more independence.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý But that is okay, and that is your experience and you’re allowed to feel like that. You’re also a teenager. I’m in my 40s, I’ve had a long time to get used to it, and I’ve made a lot of choices based on it. So, we’re in totally different parts of the journey, and there’s no right way to think about it.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý You are here to talk about a documentary about partially sighted futsal. And James, your grandad was a footballer, your dad was a very, very successful footballer, did you hope to be a footballer?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Oh, I mean, of course. Like, everyone wants to be a footballer, especially when it’s so close to home and being inspired from your dad. It’s something I really wanted to go into. But obviously that’s not the cards I’ve been dealt. I still enjoyed playing football for a long time, but it got to the point where I struggled to compete when the pitches got bigger. And it was all getting too fast-paced, everyone was getting better and better. I was good at the ball, I was actually a decent player, funnily enough.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Do you agree, Michael, was he a decent player?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý He was good, yeah. As he says, until the pitch got bigger and he couldn’t see the ball as well, and by the time he saw it it was whizzing past and he couldn’t get into position. So, of course the normal things. And James’ character is if he’s not going to be brilliant at something he probably doesn’t want to do it.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Where did he get that from, I wonder.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I know. His mum. His mum.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý [Laughs]

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý All his bad traits are his mum.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I don’t know if it’s a bad trait at all [laughter]. So, when you discovered partially sighted futsal how did that make you feel and what did you think about that?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I mean, it was quite a big shock to be honest, because I didn’t expect the standard to be good as it actually was. And I didn’t expect the sport to be the same as it actually was. I thought that I’d go there and have to put a blindfold on and play football with a bell in a ball.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý So, you were thinking about blind football as you’d seen it at the Paralympics and on ads and stuff like that?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah. But I just presumed, I don’t know…I just must have not even thought about it.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I’d never heard of it either.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I’d never heard of it either. What is it? What is visually impaired or partially sighted futsal?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It’s just normal football but on a smaller scaled pitch, which is perfect for someone like me who used to struggle with the pitch getting bigger. Because that is one of the main factors which caused me to stop playing. But in visually impaired futsal or in normal futsal I believe the ball is slightly heavier, to stop it bounding and stuff like that; the goals are normally slightly smaller, like similar size to a hockey goal; and the goalkeeper is allowed to be fully sighted and is not allowed to leave the D.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý What’s the D?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It’s like an area around the goal.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý A bit like a box.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý We would call it the 18-yard box in football.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Okay, so they have to stay in their lane, these fully sighted players?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Exactly [laughs], that’s right. The goalkeepers are fully sighted but the rest of the team aren’t.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And how did you get on with the game?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Well, I don’t want to spoil it because obviously this is for the documentary, but I did actually score at some point while training with the England team.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Woo.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Which I’m quite happy about. I’m glad they kept some of the good parts in. I know there some point where I actually got megged and scored an own goal from getting past…

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Do you want to explain to the listeners what this?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Getting nutmegged: the ball goes through your legs. It’s one of the most embarrassing things in football if you get nutmegged.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah, and then score an own goal from it, it was just like, yeah, not a great moment. And it was on camera.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý They took that out as well.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý So, they didn’t leave that in.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I’m a bit disappointed [laughs].

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý You were still getting used to the game.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And in terms of your vision, was it quite similar to the other players? In terms of classification did you have a think about what you would be? So, B1, there’s, like, very blind. Like me I’m a total, I couldn’t play that game. So, B1 is a little bit of vision.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I think I was B2, wasn’t I? B2 or 3, something like that.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Yeah, I can’t remember exactly what you are.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý No, but it was a long time ago.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It’s a very good question because there’s a certain amount of players allowed on the pitch at a certain time that have different classifications, as you say. So, you’re only allowed, you know, maybe a couple of B2s, maybe a couple of B3s at any point. And when you’re making substitutions you’ve got to be aware of what players are what. So, of course if you have somebody that’s vision is seriously impaired but they’re exceptional players then they’re worth their weight in gold because obviously you’re playing with a player that in theory on the other team wouldn’t be as good having their vision not being good at all. There’s a few complications in it, but, you know.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý So, the vision level doesn’t actually relate to how good a player you are?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It doesn’t, but you do have to have a certain amount of players on the pitch at any one time in a certain category, just to make it fair.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Sure. And James, are you going to continue with the futsal?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Unfortunately not. I did enjoy playing it, and I enjoyed, well normal football, I enjoy football in general. But, as dad said, it’s a lot of commitment really, and I want to focus on business, so unfortunately just can’t really go together. But…

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý But it was a really good experience?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Oh, I enjoyed every minute of filming the documentary and it was a great laugh, yeah.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý So, where will we see you, do you think – I mean, you’re 17, I did not know what I was doing at 17 – but where do you think we’ll see James Owen in ten years’ time? Daddy can say what he thinks as well.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Oh god, I don’t even…I wouldn’t even be able to guess. I mean, if you were to have asked this question a few years ago and asked where I’d be now I would not have guessed this. Because I was a shy kid, I literally just used to want to play on the Xbox. But I definitely got brought out of my shell, whether this be from the documentary or from my dad. But I definitely wouldn’t see myself being here speaking to you [laughs].

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý So, you don’t know what kind of business you want to do or anything?

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý No, not necessarily, but I would want to have my own business.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý And daddy, what do you think? Michael Owen, what do you think your son James will be doing in ten years’ time?

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Well, he’ll be successful, I’m pretty sure about that. I mean, he takes a keen interest in my business, which is the training of racehorses. And he’s taken a particular shine to that and a passion; more so with clients, meeting people, picking their brains as to what they do and how they’ve become so successful. Actually looking into my business as well and understanding it, I think he takes a particular shine to that as well. So, he will definitely run a business of some sort in the future. What that will be I’m not sure.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý That’s fair enough.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I pretty much know that when I retire from working in 30 years or something he’ll probably take over…

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý The family empire.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý …over the family empire.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Oh, that’s fantastic. James’ and Michael’s documentary, Football is for Everyone, is available from 30th January on TNT Sports and Discovery Plus. Thank you so much, Michael Owen and James Owen.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I’m so impressed. Well done you.

JAMES-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Thank you.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Thank you. No, well done you! Stop it, it’s not about me.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Amazing.

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Wasn’t supposed to be about me anyway.

MICHAEL-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý No, it’s very inspirational. Amazing that was.

MUSIC-

EMMA-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý I thoroughly enjoyed that interview. Honestly, it was so good to talk about growing up with a visual impairment and jobs and school and sports. And also how Michael Owen worked through having a son with low vision. If you’d like us to interview someone in particular please email accessall@bbc.co.uk. And remember that this is the second episode of Access All this week. The first one is called Drugs Shortage, and it’s probably already on your device. But if it isn’t pop on, subscribe on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts, and you’ll have that one as well. Really looking forward to seeing you next week. Bye.

[Trailer for Newscast]

MALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Newscast is the unscripted chat behind the headlines.

FEMALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý It’s informed but informal.

MALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý We pick the day’s top stories and we find experts who can really dig into them.

MALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý We use our colleagues in the newsroom and our contacts.

MALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Some people pick up the phone rather faster than others.

CALLER-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Hello?

FEMALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý We sometimes literally run around the Â鶹ԼÅÄ building to grab the very best guests.

MALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Join us for daily news chat.

FEMALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý To get you ready for today’s conversations.

MALE-ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Newscast, listen on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds.

Podcast

Get the latest episodes of the Access All podcast the moment a new episode goes live!

Podcast