‘I was Gary Neville’s team-mate and didn’t like him – he had unusual tactics on trips away’

Martin Keown detailed how divided the England camp during his era and how Manchester United players – led by his rival Gary Neville – dominated the national team

Gary Neville’s former England team-mate Martin Keown has admitted the Manchester United legend “rubbed him up the wrong way” as he opened up on his unusual tactics during trips with the national team.

Neville and Keown played together for the Three Lions for around six years as they were forced to put aside their fierce club rivalry between Arsenal and United for the sake of England.

Keown – who picked up 43 caps between 1992 and 2002 – detailed how divided the England camp during his era and how Manchester United players dominated the national team, having a huge influence on the culture of the squad.

Writing in his new autobiography “On The Edge: The Autobiography”, published in the Daily Mail, Keown spoke about how Neville in particular appeared to have a huge say on how things were done, admitting some of his antics didn’t go down well with him.

“Dinner was at 7pm, but Gary Neville and his followers would always be down 15 minutes early. By the time the rest of us arrived, the United players were two-thirds of the way through their food. You were lucky to see them for more than ten minutes before they were back up to their rooms.”

Speaking further about training with Neville, he added: “When we warmed up, the Neville brothers would go straight to the front of the group and when the coach said, ‘Knees to chest,’ they were nearly knocking themselves out, such was their keenness to do everything to the nth degree. Fergie indoctrinated them well.”

Neville had a much longer England career than Keown, earning 85 caps, and the Arsenal legend said his rival wound him up on a few occasions when it came to decisions.

“Gary did rub me up the wrong way with small things,” he added. “When we travelled abroad with England, there was no assigned seating on the plane and Gary was always first on so he could take the seat right at the front with the extra leg room, even though he was far from being the tallest.

“When it came to the dispute about whether we were going to land in London or Manchester, you can bet Gary was having his say on Fergie’s behalf. He was like a union shop steward.”

Keown also complained about Neville “celebrating like a lunatic” after Arsenal lost to United in a 1999 cup semi-final replay and accused him of taking illegal throw-ins for years.

Luckily for Keown, he did have plenty of bragging rights over their rivals United as he helped the Gunners win three Premier League titles and three FA Cups – playing 449 times in total and becoming one of the most famed players in the club’s history.

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