Owen was named on the bench, but Newcastle fans didn't see sight nor sound of the little parasite - either during the warm up or during the game when the Stoke subs trotted up and down the line.
Rumour has it ... Owen had words with Stoke boss Tony Pulis, asking if he could be spared the embarrassment of taking stick from the Newcastle crowd.
Yet on the night Owen used Twitter to goad Newcastle fans saying "40 Newcastle fans asked for my autograph outside the hotel and didn't have a bad word to say to me."
He would have found 50,000 willing to prove him wrong HAD he shown he was a MAN and gone on the pitch at St James' Park that day.
What sad futile world does that knob-head live in?