Martin Keown: I Would Always Make Sure Sir Alex Ferguson Didn’t Get Near The Ref

By The Editor
on 3rd December 2017

Martin Keown touches on the little details that added to classic clashes vs Man United…

Arsene legend Martin Keown revealed the levels of gamesmanship he had to engage in during the exciting battles against Manchester United in the early 2000s.

Billed as the greatest rival in Premier League history, the title exchanged hands between Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson from 1998-2004.

Each meeting was a certain six-pointer and the team that dominated the head-to-heads invariably went on to lift the title in May, such was the importance of each clash.

The intensity around every spectacle didn’t only occur on the pitch, as the ‘Battle of the Buffet’ illustrates, and Keown revealed that his task was to minimise Sir Alex’s influence on the referees as the trudged down the tunnel at half-time.

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“That man had his foot in every camp,” Keown said on BT Sport.

“So when it was my turn to play against him, I made sure after the semi-final of the FA Cup when he really got in the referee’s face, I made sure that he would never get that comfort again.

“So whenever we played them, at half-time I made sure I was first in the tunnel, looking for Alex Ferguson. Making sure that I could block his pathway to the referee.

“I wasn’t going to beat up an old man, I was just going to ferry him away from the referee.”

While it’s amusing to hear these anecdotes in 2017, it really shows how far that squad was willing to go to win games and claim league titles.

It’s not hard to see why we’re still yet clinch a league title since possessing a squad that displays those qualities.