ARSENAL legend Martin Keown has revealed that everybody has been saying his name wrong for nearly 45 years.
The former England defender was speaking ahead of the Gunners’ Premier League trip to Brentford on New Years Day.
The Highbury cult hero said his surname should be pronounced “Key-Owen”.
Keown told Hayters: “Key-owen is the pronunciation.
“My father worked hard (to tell others) 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.”
Keown, now 58, was raised by Irish parents in a small community in Oxford during the 1970’s.
The ex-defender joined the Arsenal as a schoolboy in the 1980s.
However, he left the club in 1986 and signed for Aston Villa following a bitter row over wages.
He would return in 1993 in a £2million deal from Everton.
He waved goodbye to Arsenal after their Invincible season.
Keown played 10 games as the Gunners went unbeaten to clinch the title in 2004.
He won three Prem titles and four FA Cups during his 11 year stint with the North London club.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Amazon Prime Video presenter and John Legend give fans ‘second hand embarrassment’ after Arsenal’s win over Ipswich” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366492647112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]He now often covers Arsenal‘s current side as a pundit for TNT Sports and talkSPORT.
Mikel Arteta‘s side sit third in the table and are nine points behind Prem leaders Liverpool.
A win over Brentford will put the Gunners above Nottingham Forest and close the gap to six points on Arne Slot‘s side.