Martin Keown

Martin Raymond Keown (born 24 July 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1984 to 2005 notably in the Premier League for Arsenal where he made over 300 appearances for the club and won nine major trophies.

He also played for Brighton & Hove Albion, Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester City and Reading. Keown made his England debut in 1992 against France and went on to win 43 caps for the national side over the next 10 years, gradually forming a respected defensive partnership with Arsenal team-mate Tony Adams at both club and international level. Keown represented England at four major international football finals including the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.

He is now a part-time scout and coach for Arsenal, as well as a pundit for the BBC, ESPN, TV3, and Al Jazeera Sports +3. He came out of retirement in 2012 and briefly played for Combined Counties League Premier Division side Wembley in their FA Cup fixtures.

Club career

Arsenal

A centre back from Oxford, Keown played for local sides and his local Gaelic football team as a boy, before joining Arsenal on a schoolboy contract in 1980, though he made his professional debut on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion in 1984. His debut for Arsenal came on 23 November 1985, when Don Howe was still their manager, and they drew 0–0 with West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns. He played 22 league games that season but when George Graham was appointed manager on 14 May 1986, he decided that Keown was not part of his plans to try and turn Arsenal into league title contenders and on 9 June 1986 he joined Aston Villa for £200,000.