Key Takeaways
- Ex-defender Martin Keown says Alex Manninger’s 1998 displays were vital to Arsenal’s Double win.
- The Austrian keeper, signed aged 20, kept six straight clean sheets when David Seaman was hurt.
- Keown urges former team-mates to cherish reunions after Manninger died at only 49.
Martin Keown still feels the bear-hug. A grainy clip of Arsenal’s 1998 FA-Cup replay win over West Ham shows the centre-back racing to celebrate with keeper Alex Manninger, who lifts him clean off the Upton Park turf. “That video knocked me sideways when I heard he’d gone,” Keown told our reporter. “The power in his arms, the smile—time collapses in a second.”
Manninger arrived in north London in July 1997, one of seven new faces brought in before Arsène Wenger’s first full season. While world names such as Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars stole headlines, the 20-year-old Austrian arrived with little fanfare. Keown, rehabbing a broken shoulder, watched the rookie grind through extra gym shifts. “I thought, ‘this lad is serious’,” he recalled.
Serious became sensational when David Seaman damaged an ankle in January. Thrust into a title race, Manninger recorded six consecutive league shut-outs. The standout was a 1–0 triumph at Old Trafford—Arsenal’s first league win there in the Premier League era. “Teams rubbed their hands when Dave got injured,” Keown said. “Alex slammed the door.”
The cup run brought more drama. Down to ten men after Dennis Bergkamp’s red, Arsenal led West Ham through Nicolas Anelka, then survived extra time. Manninger’s penalty save from Eyal Berkovic sent the Gunners through. He finished the campaign with 16 appearances and a league medal secured only after the club requested special dispensation for his seven games.
Team-mates belted out a playground chant to the tune of “Three Blind Mice”: “Got a sore finger, loves Arsène Wenger.” Manninger, shy off the pitch, lapped it up. “He’d walk in and we’d all sing,” Keown laughed. “PlayStation battles in hotel rooms finished the job of turning the quiet kid into one of us.”
Wenger restored Seaman for the run-in, yet every player felt the understudy had earned permanent praise. Manninger later left in 2002, drifting out of contact with many old friends. Keown believes the sudden loss of both Manninger and fellow Gunner Kevin Campbell within months is a stark reminder. “Winning creates a bond you assume will last until you meet again,” he said. “Now we must make the calls, book the flights, hug the people. Alex deserved that encore.”