Monday 27 April 2020 06:58, UK
At a time when football grounds have closed their doors, we've asked Martin Tyler to share some of his favourite facts and memories of the homes of clubs around the world.
This week, Sky Sports' Voice of Football is looking at some grounds which closed their doors many years ago and takes us on a virtual visit to Arsenal's former ground, Highbury.
Keep an eye on The Football Show on Sky Sports News and @SkySportsPL for some special Tyler's Teasers from Martin.
By car. My route was through London over Blackfriars Bridge or past the Westfield shopping centre up onto the flyover on the Westway. Always lots of traffic, so timing the length of journey was always tricky.
It was a low position in front of the upper tier of the West Stand, opposite the players' tunnel. One broadcast nearly ended in catastrophe when a television monitor fell off the gantry onto the lower level. Happily, it was before the crowd had come in and no one was hurt but it could have been much, much worse.
Arsenal's controversial move from South London to Highbury in 1913 benefited from the new ground being close to a tube station on the Piccadilly Line, Gillespie Road, which had been opened just seven years earlier.
In 1932 Herbert Chapman, the club's visionary manager, persuaded London Underground to change the station's name to Arsenal and it remains that to this day.
For me it is a case of first and last.
In October 1974 I had a Saturday off from my job as an editorial assistant at London Weekend Television, working behind the scenes for the flagship football shows, On The Ball, and The Big Match. The featured game that weekend was Arsenal against Queens Park Rangers and I asked my bosses if there was room alongside Brian Moore on the gantry at Highbury for me, my cassette recorder and a very unsophisticated microphone.
My enthusiasm was kindly tolerated, so I had a first go at what I have been doing almost ever since. It was helpfully a very lively game.
Brian Kidd, still very evident today as a member of Manchester City's coaching staff, gave Arsenal the lead. In the second half Gerry Francis, a familiar pundit on Sky Sports News, set up the mercurial Stan Bowles for an equaliser and a Bowles penalty put QPR 2-1 up. A late equaliser from John Radford rescued a point for the Gunners, who - and I was only reminded of this when I watched the highlights online recently - went into the match bottom of the First Division.
They survived and so did I after this tentative step along my chosen path. Being in television I had the distinct advantage of playing my fledgling words to a man who mattered, Bob Gardam, who was LWT's match director.
Bob remembered his "not bad, have another go when you can" when Southern Television were stuck for a commentator a couple of months later. He suggested they took a chance on me and I have been forever grateful.
As for the last, it was Arsenal against Wigan Athletic in May 2006, and a happy ending for The Gunners thanks to events elsewhere, as well as the action on the soon to be dug-up Highbury pitch.
The scenario was based around which of the two North London rivals would finish fourth and qualify for Champions League football the following season. Spurs started fourth on 65 points with Arsenal fifth on 64. Spurs were away to West Ham.
As the Sky Sports crew, co-commentator Brian Marwood and myself assembled at Highbury news was coming through from Upton Park that Spurs wanted a postponement or a four-hour delay to kick off. Their squad had been hit by illness, with food poisoning being touted as the cause. The Premier League turned down both requests.
At the appointed 3pm, both games started. Arsenal and West Ham both scored early but at half-time it was 2-2 at Highbury and 1-1 at Upton Park. Both games ended as home wins. Yossi Benayoun, who would later have a spell with Arsenal, sunk Spurs. Arsenal finished with four goals on the day and fourth place in the table. Thierry Henry set the seal on the Highbury story with a hat-trick.
There was a closing ceremony to mark the day. Many of the Arsenal players stayed on the pitch well after the ground was emptied for the final time. I stayed on the air after the match coverage on behalf of Sky Sports News, Brian with me until he had to go to get his last train home! I sat down at 2pm and left at 7.30pm never to return.
Arsenal have always prided themselves on their high standards. Highbury had more than a touch of class
On Tuesday: Martin brings us his guide to Tottenham's former ground, White Hart Lane
