REAL MADRID superstar Michael Owen has revealed why he never wanted to play for Wales as a teenager but will always regard the country as home.

The England striker, who hails from Hawarden, Flintshire, has spoken for the first time on:

* His relief at missing out on a place in the Wales schoolboy team;

* How that Welsh trial was insignificant compared to the 'life-or-death' attempt for a place with England;

* His affection for Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, where he enjoyed the greatest moment of his career;

* The devastating news that his builder had committed suicide earlier this year.

In his autobiography, Off the Record, the ex-Liverpool player looks back on his transition from kicking about in his local park to becoming an international star, and unveils the highs and lows of his private life.

As he embarks on his new life in Spain, Michael explains why playing for England was the only option if he wanted to make it in the world arena.

At the age of 13, when he was scoring a record number of goals for Flintshire schoolboys, he was selected for a trial with Wales schoolboys. He was two years younger than he should have been, but that didn't phase the talented teenager.

"I think I regarded it as an elaborate football course rather than an audition for international representation," he says. "I didn't feel a weight of expectation."

A couple of years later, he admits his England trial "felt like life or death" in comparison.

Michael, who was born in Chester, wasn't selected for Wales schoolboys - a decision his father, Terry, regarded as necessary if he was to reach the dizzy heights of international football.

Michael says: "My dad approached the organiser and said, 'If you're thinking of picking him, you should know that Michael's not going to be available to play for Wales at senior level'. The advice was that if I got tied into the Welsh schoolboy system, it would prevent me from playing for England at the same junior levels.

"It was never going to be possible for me to go on and represent Wales at senior level because there's no trace of Welsh blood in me.

"I'm English, with Scottish ancestry on my dad's side. I always try to make that clear to people who may wonder whether I turned my back on Wales."

Despite going on to play for Liverpool and England, Wales will always have a special place in Michael's heart. He bought his whole family a row of houses with one of his first pay cheques, and he's currently renovating Lower Soughton Hall, near Northop, for himself, fiancee Louise Bonsall and 15-month-old Gemma Rose.

And the 24-year-old reckons the greatest moment of his career happened at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, during the nail-biting 2001 FA Cup Final against Arsenal.

Superstition had forced the wonderkid to play in his old boots, despite Umbro sending him a flashy new pair for the occasion, but Michael's glorious 2-1 victory soon proved it was best to stick with tradition.

His sensational double just eight minutes before the end of the match prompted the famous celebration somersault - which Michael says he is still "embarrassed about to this day".

The number 10 remembers: "I needed an outlet for the incredible joy inside. Something possessed me to recreate the Owen family garden on the Millennium Stadium pitch. It wasn't the prettiest celebration but at least I landed on my feet.

"My family were dispersed all round the stadium, but I managed to point to one group straight after the goal and seemed to pick them all out on the lap of honour. Half of them were in tears."

Michael's mum, Janette, might remember his greatest achievement as winning BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1998.

"The next day at training I was teased something rotten," says Michael. "The fact that my mum had cried seemed to give the lads plenty of ammunition."

His love of the Millennium Stadium, though, was reinforced when he returned to the Welsh capital for Liverpool's Community Shield victory over Manchester United, just weeks after the celebrated FA Cup final.

And Michael admits: "I only have to put one foot on the Millennium Stadium pitch to love the feeling it gives me.

"When Wembley is reopened and English football's biggest occasions come home from Wales, I'll miss playing in that great Cardiff arena."

Off the pitch, though, Michael's suffered some turbulent times recently.

In March, interior designer Mike Flynn - who had worked on Lower Soughton Hall - took a fatal overdose. The soccer ace was embroiled in a civil court case with the designer after Michael discovered "financial discrepancies". He says the trouble started when he discovered he had paid Flynn #276,000 for a security system, when the firm which carried out the work had only received #164,000.

Flynn committed suicide on the day he was due to attend a court hearing.

Michael says: "All I ever wanted was my money back. I just didn't want to be taken for a ride.

"If he had stayed alive and had spoken to me after it all came out, I would have talked to him. When I need to be hard, I can be, but I don't think Mike was a nasty person deep down."

In January, Louise fractured her pelvis in a riding accident in the grounds of the couple's home. Michael - himself no stranger to injury - says he quickly disregarded his initial fear that Louise could be paralysed and focussed his belief on her recovery.

"I wasn't panicking," he remembers. "I reasoned that she wasn't going to die so I never lost my self-control.

"To me, it was a problem that needed to be solved. Though it hurt to see her in such agony, she needed me to think, not break down sobbing."

As the pair prepare for their wedding, and Michael starts his new career alongside England captain David Beckham in Spain, he is keen to point out the vast difference between him and Becks.

He says: "David and I are opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to our public profiles.

"We live totally different lives. I've never really asked for publicity because I don't want it. Victoria Beckham was a pop star in her own right, whereas Louise shares my desire to stay out of the public eye. It's all down to personal taste. Neither of us is right or wrong."

For all his honesty in his autobiography, it seems Michael will be anxious to retreat to being the quiet, family man of football.