Martin Keown

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, mostly alongside Tommy Caton or David O'Leary, but when George Graham was appointed manager on 14 May 1986, he decided that Keown was not part of his plans to try to turn Arsenal into league title contenders and on 9 June 1986 he joined Aston Villa for £125,000. Graham offered him £50 a week less than Keown wanted and stated in 1993: "It seemed crazy that they wouldn't agree and although I didn't want to leave and they didn't want me to go, it became a matter of principle."

Aston Villa

Keown signed for Villa after a season in which they had narrowly avoided relegation to the Second Division, a mere four years after being European Cup winners and five years since being league champions. Manager Graham Turner was under a lot of pressure, and after their dismal form continued into the 1986–87 season he was sacked on 14 September 1986 and succeeded by Billy McNeill. Keown appeared in 36 league games that season, but he was unable to save Villa from finishing bottom of the First Division and being relegated after 12 successive seasons…

Keown played U16 and U18 for England. When it was learned that his mother was Irish and his father Northern Irish, Jack Charlton made an inquiry as to his availability to play for the Republic of Ireland but Keown chose to represent the country of his birth. He was also eligible to play for Northern Ireland as his father was from County Fermanagh. He made his England debut in 1992 against France. With an injury to Mark Wright he was called up into England's squad for UEFA Euro 1992, and played in all three of England's matches. Keown's early ascension to the England team under Graham Taylor did not continue under Terry Venables, who ignored him completely. Keown earned a recall from Glenn Hoddle in 1997, and went to the 1998 World Cup, but did not play. Keown became a regular under Kevin Keegan (captaining the side against Finland) and played in two of England's Euro 2000 matches. By the time Sven-Göran Eriksson became manager, Keown's age was starting to count against him, though he went to the 2002 World Cup, again as a non-playing squad member. Keown retired from international football the day after England's exit at the hands of Brazil. In all he played 43 times for England, scoring two goals.

Keown joined the coaching staff of Newbury in August 2005, but is now coaching back at former club Arsenal where he is taking his coaching badges. Former Arsenal manager Terry Neill identified him as a key figure behind the success of Arsenal's inexperienced "new-look" defence (which the team resorted to after ongoing injury problems in the 2005–06 season, notably setting a record for minutes played without conceding in the Champions League). In 2007–08 Keown was also a coach for the Oxford University Blues Football team on a part-time basis. Keown regularly appears as a pundit on the BBC's football coverage and Match of the Day, as well as covering the Champions League for Irish broadcaster TV3. He was also working for ESPN UK during the 2011 Emirates Cup.

Club

International

Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Keown goal.