Michael Owen hilariously mocked after bizarre congratulatory message to Emma Raducanu | OneFootball

Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has been mocked by fans after he congratulated new Sports Personality of the Year winner Emma Raducanu on winning the award.

Raducanu won a public vote against diver Tom Daley, swimmer Adam Peaty, boxer Tyson Fury, cyclist Sarah Storey, and footballer Raheem Sterling, after a truly memorable 2021.

The teenager stormed to victory at the US Open, becoming the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam tennis title.

Following this, the 19-year-old became the new British number one and is now inside the top 20 of the world rankings.

Owen also won the Sports Personality of the Year award back in 1998, when he was the same age as the British tennis star.

The forward shone at the 1998 World Cup, having been the youngest England player to ever be selected for a major tournament. Owen bagged a goal against Romania in the group stage, before scoring a wonderful solo goal against Argentina in the next round.

That same year, Owen also secured the Premier League Golden Boot, finishing with 18 league goals in total.

Taking to Twitter to praise Raducanu, Owen praised the 19-year-old on her win, while also posting a photo of himself holding his trophy more than 20 years prior.

“Congratulations to [Emma Raducanu] who thoroughly deserves to be crowned Sports Personality of the Year 2021.

“Makes me feel very old that she’s the same age as I was waaaaay back in 1998.”

Owen’s message was clearly meant sincerely but fans couldn’t help but see the funny side of the football pundit posting an image of himself.

Consequently, the post turned into a hilarious thread of people posting photos of their own, while they paid tribute to Raducanu.

One user posted an image of himself eating a sausage roll and captioned it: “Well done Emma, here’s a picture of me eating a sausage roll a few weeks back.”

Some decided to share even more random photos. Indeed, someone else attached an image of himself holding a microwave while standing next to two former Bury FC players.

“Well done Emma, here’s me with former Bury FC players Ian Hughes, Dean Kiely and a microwave at the Midland Hotel in [19]97.”

Similarly, a West Ham fan shared an amusing selfie of himself with former Hammers striker Carlton Cole.

“Congratulations [Emma Raducanu], here’s me aged 19 with Carlton Cole way back in 2014.”

In total, there were hundreds of comments following this same pattern. Owen has yet to respond to the thread, but fingers crossed he took it all in good jest.