Soccerex Ambassador and former England international Michael Owen will again be attending this year’s Soccerex Football Festival and Global Convention, taking place in Manchester, 5-6 and 7-9 September respectively, bringing with him his stories, experience and new ideas to the world’s premier football business event.

As an ambassador, Owen has been a big part of Soccerex’s events since retiring from the professional game, speaking at last year’s Global Convention and the 2013 European Forum, and this year, Owen’s involvement will begin with him hosting a coaching clinic with local youngsters at the Football Festival, held in Old Granada Studios, Manchester.

During the Convention, Owen will team up for a session with Davor Šuker to look at the particular routes the players took after retiring. Both players took the 1998 FIFA World Cup by storm, with Suker scoring six goals in seven matches to lead Croatia to a remarkable 3rd place finish, picking up the Golden Boot award on the way, while a young Michael Owen burst on to the scene by becoming England’s youngest ever goal scorer at the time and won ‘Best young player’ at the tournament.

The players will discuss their differing paths since retiring, with Michael discussing his range of commercial interests, which include M7 Aerial; filming and photography specialists using remote controlled drones, who will be sponsoring the session and will do a short presentation to kick off proceedings.

After retiring from an incredible career which saw him play for the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United, Michael has joined BT Sport as a pundit for the channel’s football coverage, occasionally appearing on BBC’s Match of the Day. In addition to M7 Aerial, he has also pursued various commercial interests including becoming a successful racehorse breeder and owner.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said: “It’s a real pleasure to welcome Michael back to Soccerex. As one of the sharpest finishers to ever grace the Premier League and international scene, he’s bringing that ability to the world of business and as an avid horseracing fan myself, it will be fascinating to listen to his comparisons between football and horseracing. It’s always good to have one of the greats at Soccerex.”

Owen will join a growing list of footballing stars and legends who will be attending the Global Convention this year including former and current England internationals Tony Adams, Kelly Smith and Steph Houghton, former Spain international Gaizka Mendietta, former France international and co-founder and director of Axis Stars Louis Saha, and former Italy international and co-founder and brand ambassador of Tifosy and Gianluca Vialli.

The Convention kicks off with the Football Festival on 5-6 September, with the Conference starting on Monday 7 September. A packed international exhibition and a programme of networking and social events complete the schedule for what is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading football business event.