Martin Keown

Martin Keown
Personnel
Surname	Martin Raymond Keown
birthday	July 24, 1966
place of birth	Oxford ,  England
size	185 cm
position	Defense , defensive midfield
Juniors
Years	station
1980-1984	Arsenal FC
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1984-1986	Arsenal FC	22 (0)
1985	→  Brighton & Hove Albion  (loan)	23 (1)
1986-1989	Aston Villa	112 (3)
1989-1993	Everton FC	96 (0)
1993-2004	Arsenal FC	310 (4)
2004-2005	Leicester City	17 (0)
2005	Reading FC	5 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1987-1988	England U18	8 (0)
1991	England B	1 (0)
1992-2002	England	43 (2)
1 Only league games are given.

Martin Raymond Keown (born July 24, 1966 in Oxford ) is a former English football player . The defensive player, who could mostly be used in central defense or midfield, was particularly known for his long association with Arsenal . With the "Gunners" he won three English championships ( 1998 , 2002 and 2004 ) and FA Cup trophies ( 1998 , 2002 and 2003 ). In addition, he completed 43 senior internationals for the English national team and at two World ( 1998 and 2002 ) and European championships ( 1992 and 2000 ) he was in the squad of the "Three Lions".

Athletic career

Club career

Arsenal FC, Part 1 (1980–1986)

Keown grew up in the university and industrial city of Oxford. From there, his footballing path as a 14-year-old student led him to Arsenal FC in London in October 1980. Around a year and a half later, the club provided him with a training contract in June 1982, before Keown rose to the professional division in January 1984. He had to wait a little longer for his debut in a league game and only when he was loaned to the second division side Brighton & Hove Albion did he make his debut at Manchester City on February 23, 1985. In Brighton he played a total of 25 competitive games and was also active at the beginning of the 1985/86 season before returning to the "Gunners". There he developed steadily into a permanent fixture in the defensive center and seemed to become a regular player through his continuous appearances in the second half of the season. However, the new coach George Graham decided early on the aspiring Tony Adams as a new partner of David O'Leary and so the club let him move to Aston Villa for £ 200,000 in June 1986 .

Aston Villa (1986-1989)

In Birmingham Keown was immediately involved in the club's relegation battle. Aston Villa had only won one of their first eight league games and subsequently sacked coach Graham Turner . He was then under Turner's successor Billy McNeill one of the few new signings who knew how to convince and as a central defender he quickly won a regular place. Because of the poor team performance, the club rose in the 1986/87 season . In his second season he formed on the side of Allan Evans and later with Steve Sims a solid defense center, which was partly responsible for the fact that the club returned to the elite class after just one year under the new sporting director Graham Taylor . Keown only missed the last two league games and a total of three goals, including the winning goal in January 1988 against Ipswich Town . In his third and final year with the "Villans" Keown found himself again way down in the table, but with his constant performances he recommended himself for "higher tasks" and after the close relegation he moved to the summer of 1989 for 750,000 pounds Everton FC - the amount of the transfer fee was determined by a neutral "transfer tribunal".

Everton FC (1989-1993)

Keown's debut at the "Toffees" was mixed and the newcomer initially found it difficult to meet the higher demands of the club operating in the upper half of the table - especially since his role was initially limited to that of the substitute behind the regular players Dave Watson and Kevin Ratcliffe . His development progressed steadily and in addition to his strength in duels, his calm and intelligent style of play was praised. In addition, he showed himself exceptionally fast for a defender, which means that he also offered options for offensive actions. In retrospect, he was considered the best of eleven major transfers in the era of coach Colin Harvey , who had inherited the heavy legacy of master coach Howard Kendall in 1987 and now could not get beyond a place in the upper midfield. At the latest after Kendall's return in November 1990, Keown had earned a permanent place in the team, where he was used as a classic full-back or as the third defender in a back three. In the 1991/92 season he also benefited from the fact that the time of the veteran Ratcliffe was coming to an end and although the club slipped into the lower midfield, Keown's performances were so respected that he had his first chance in the English senior team in February 1992 got.

At the beginning of the subsequent 1992/93 season, Keown missed the first two months due to injury before returning to a team that was increasingly exposed to sporting problems. In February 1993 Keown then surprisingly again signed a contract with his old club Arsenal. The transfer fee was two million pounds.

Arsenal FC, Part 2 (1993-2004)

Since Keown had already played for Everton in the current season in both the FA Cup and the League Cup , he was banned from Arsenal in both competitions and so he could not contribute to the two cup successes of the "Gunners". Regardless, he played in league games in the regular formation, which was particularly at the expense of Steve Bould . Keown, Bould and Andy Linighan competed steadily for the place at the side of the "seeded" Tony Adams in a defense that was considered the most stable Premier League defense at the time. Keown initially had the "nose ahead" in the 1993/94 season. However, he also missed Arsenal's third cup success in early May 1994 when he had to pause due to an injury when he won the final against AC Parma in the European Cup Winners' Cup - he only played four games in the first two rounds before Bould replaced him from the quarter-finals.

Keown also showed special qualities in his capacity as a “man hitcher” and since he could be used in the center of defense as well as in the defensive midfield, he was able to “take care of both the center forward and the creative attacking middle player of the opponent ". He occasionally helped out as a full-back and in the 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest he scored his first competitive goal for Arsenal on December 3, 1994. After injuries at Bould and Adams Keown returned after initial midfield missions in the 1995/96 season back in the defensive lineup. Under the new coach Bruce Rioch , he occupied one of the three defensive positions in the three-man defensive chain that has now been introduced and at the end of the season he led the team more often as captain.

When Arsène Wenger finally ushered in a new era as the new Arsenal coach in the 1996/97 season, Keown kept his place in the team and although the team narrowly failed in the battle for the English championship , third place was respectable. In addition, the defense had again conceded the fewest goals in the league and Keown under Wenger was able to show more than ever in addition to his fighting qualities, the technical skills in him in the short passing game. In the 1997/98 season Keown won the double from the English championship and the FA Cup with Arsenal , although he had to pause due to injury until the end of November 1997. In the decisive phase he ultimately ousted Bould in the middle of the defense and he was also in the starting line-up in the cup final against Newcastle United (2-0). Thanks to his heading ability he was also at set-pieces always dangerous and in the Champions League he scored a winning goal against Panathinaikos Athens - in the competition failed Arsenal but already in the group stage. In the middle of the 1999/2000 season he missed a few games due to a calf injury and shortly after his return, a hand injury caused another unwanted break. Nevertheless, he was usually at the side of Adam's regular player in the middle of the defense and in the Champions League season 2000/01 he scored two goals in the final minutes to win 3-2 against Shakhtar Donetsk (after a 2-1 deficit ).

In the 2001/02 season Keown won his second English championship and FA Cup double with Arsenal . Apart from a two-month injury break due to a fracture in his right leg, which he broke in the game against Blackburn Rovers , he again contributed significantly to the success and in the cup final against Chelsea (2-0) Wenger changed him after 66 minutes at the stand 0-0 for Sylvain Wiltord . After Adams retired, Keown formed the center of defense with Sol Campbell in the 2002/03 season , but this year he was plagued by several wounds, including a thigh injury that he sustained against PSV Eindhoven in September 2002, which he had to repeat forced a two-month break. Although he recovered and defended the FA Cup in 2003 , new minor problems followed that prevented further missions towards the end of the season. In the 2003/04 season Keown was only in three league games in the starting line-up. Since he was also substituted on seven times (often on the right wing position ) and thus came on ten appearances in the Premier League , this was enough after winning the English championship to receive an official medal. With a farewell game against an English selection, the club officially adopted him after a total of 447 competitive appearances.

Leicester & Reading (2004-2005)

Keown moved to the second division Leicester City in July 2004 free of charge . There he became the oldest debutant in the club's history and although he was initially used permanently in the center of defense, he left the club after a coach change at the end of January 2005 in the direction of league rivals Reading FC . In Reading he could only rarely recommend himself due to injuries for the first team and so he ended his active professional career in order to gain first coaching experience at the amateur club AFC Newbury from August 2005 at the amateur club .

English national team

During his time at Everton, Keown was made an international player in 1992 and made his debut against France . Due to the injury-related loss of Mark Wright , he was appointed to the squad for the European Championship in Sweden in the same year and played in all three England matches.

Keown's rapid rise in the English national team was interrupted under coach Terry Venables , who did not involve him in his plans. When the English team was then taken over by Glenn Hoddle , Keown celebrated his comeback in 1997 and was in the squad for the 1998 World Cup in France , where he was not used. He then became a regular under Kevin Keegan (was also the team captain for the first time against Finland ) and played two of three games at the 2000 European Championship in the Netherlands and Belgium . When Sven-Göran Eriksson took over as coach, Keown's increasing age began to speak against him more and more often. Nevertheless, he was again in the squad for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea , where he did not play as four years earlier. Keown made a total of 43 international appearances for the English national team and scored two goals.

Title / Awards

• English Championship (3): 1998 , 2002 , 2004
• English Cup (3): 1998 , 2002 , 2003
• Charity Shield (3): 1998, 1999, 2002

Web links

• Profile at Arsenal FC
• Martin Keown in the database of soccerbase.com (English)
• Statistics as an English international

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Hugman, Barry J .: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publishing, 1992, ISBN 1-869833-15-5 , pp. 217-218 .
2. ^ Rob Bishop / Frank Holt: Aston Villa - The Complete Record . DB Publishing, Derby, 2010, ISBN 978-1-85983-805-1 , pp. 236-237 .
3. ^ Ivan Ponting: Everton Player by Player . Hamlyn, London 1998, ISBN 0-600-59581-1 , pp. 58 .
4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 118 .
5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 136 .
6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 154 .
7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 168 .
8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 171 .
9. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 183 f .
10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 0-946531-34-X , pp. 171 .
11. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 1-85291-648-6 , pp. 233 .
12. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 1-85291-651-6 , pp. 242 .
13. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 1-85291-660-5 , pp. 230 ff .
14. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2005, ISBN 1-85291-662-1 , pp. 232 .
15. ^ "Keown begins coaching education" (BBC Sport)