Martin Keown may be a familiar figure in the football world – but it turns out that fans have been saying his name incorrectly for decades.
Keown has been on screens as both player and pundit for 40 years after stints on the pitch with Aston Villa, Everton, and most notably Arsenal, before taking up broadcasting. He is now a staple pundit on TNT Sports and talkSPORT, and supporters may think they know all is there to know about the ex-defender.
However, just prior to providing analysis for TNT on New Year’s Day, for Arsenal’s 3-1 victory against Brentford, Keown divulged a personal, and surprising, admission about his surname. Speaking to Hayters TV, Keown elaborated on how to say his name correctly, saying: “Key-owen is the pronunciation.”
He then added: 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 ex-Arsenal stalwart, raised in Oxford by Irish parents was an England international with 43 caps. He also boasts three Premier League crowns and the same number of FA Cups, and was integral to Arsenal’s legendary ‘Invincibles’ season in 2003/04, as per the Mirror.
Keown was on hand to witness Mikel Arteta’s squad successfully retaliate against a promising start from Brentford, thanks to a goal by Bryan Mbeumo. However in a valiant attempt to keep their title challenge on track, Gabriel Jesus then leapt into action with a diving header to equalise.
Jesus’ strike was then followed by Mikel Merino rifling in a loose ball from a corner to edge Arsenal ahead. Gabriel Martinelli sealed the deal with a powerful strike, securing a third consecutive league victory, catapulting the Gunners into second place.
“They picked up the intensity, that’s a strong signal from this team,” Keown said on TNT Sports afterwards. “They’re alive and kicking, still in this race. At half time the manager would have had a few words.”
While many fans will be caught off guard by Keown’s revelation, the practice of saying footballers names wrong doesn’t stop at Keown, with another famous example being Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes. The United’ captain’s name appears to be relatively straight forward, however, the name we think we all know him by isn’t quite correct, and that’s according to the man himself.
The 30-year-old has two middle names, Miguel and Borges, with Borges and Fernandes being paternal family names. Fernandes also pronounces his name very differently to how the majority of English speakers say it.
In a Premier League social media clip featuring players saying their names, Fernandes pronounces it “Brun Mig-el Borj Fer-nanj”. His claims are also backed up by his compatriot, and striker of arch rivals Liverpool, Diogo Jota, who addressed the same issue in an interview, saying: “I have this discussion often with the English guys, [it’s] Brun Fer-nanj.”