Martin Keown may feel like a familiar face in football – but it turns out everyone has been mispronouncing his name all this time.
Keown has been on our screens as a player and pundit for the last 40 years, enjoying a successful career as a defender for Aston Villa, Everton and Arsenal before becoming a broadcaster. The 58-year-old is a regular pundit for TNT Sports and talkSPORT and is one of the most prominent voices on his former club Arsenal.
He was on punditry duty for TNT Sports at the Gtech Community Stadium on New Year’s Day to cover Arsenal’s 3-1 comeback win over Brentford. But before then, he had dropped a bombshell of his own, revealing the proper way to address him.
Keown told Hayters: “Key-owen is the pronunciation. My father worked hard [to tell people] and I kind of gave up on it because it was so difficult to get people to say the word. The Irish just say it. It just rolls off the tongue as it’s part of their dialect.”
The former defender was brought up in Oxford to Irish parents, but represented England as a player, winning 43 caps between 1992 and 2002. He won three Premier League titles and three FA Cups with Arsenal and was a part of the famous Invincibles of 2003/04, who went the whole league campaign without tasting defeat.
Keown is now best known for commenting on his former club and was there to see Mikel Arteta’s side overcome Brentford on Wednesday night. Bryan Mbeumo gave the home team an early lead before the Gunners fought back admirably.
Gabriel Jesus pounced with a diving header to put in a rebound for 1-1 before Mikel Merino smashed in a loose ball from a corner to give Arsenal the lead. Gabriel Martinelli completed the scoring with a thumping finish to give his side a third straight league win and push them up to second place.
“They picked up the intensity, that’s a strong signal from this team,” Keown said on- TNT Sports. “They’re alive and kicking, still in this race. At half time the manager would have had a few words.
“They showed good character and personality and in the second half showed their class. They really stamped on their opponent with two quick goals and then it’s emphatic. That sends a message that they’re still in this title race.
‘That’s the first of nine games in January. League Cup, FA Cup, you name it, they’re in every competition. It keeps the pot boiling now. It puts pressure on Liverpool, over to you. It sends a little message that they’re still in this race.”
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