Friday 1 May 2020 11:01, 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 in Scotland, Wales and Spain. Today, he takes us on a trip to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Keep an eye on The Football Show on Sky Sports News and @SkySportsPL for some special Tyler's Teasers from Martin.
This was the home of domestic cup finals, promotion play-offs and Community Shields from 2001 to 2007 while Wembley was being rebuilt, so the trips across the bridge into South Wales became very regular for teams, fans and the media alike.
Unless you were from west of Cardiff, further into Wales, it was a case of one way in, one way out, and on matchdays the capacity of the M4 was sorely tested. But with the regularity of the visits, I did find other routes which joined the motorway much nearer the Severn Bridge and avoided the congestion on the way home.
It was not an exact science because after one cup final, I forgot to refuel and found that there were no open petrol stations on my back roads route. I had to go all the way to Bristol with the gauge on empty and my heart in my mouth. I must have been down to the very last drop!
A great position and a pleasure to visit. All the local staff at the stadium made the "invaders" from England extremely welcome.
It is the fourth development built on this site which housed the original Cardiff Arms Park. Its retractable roof is a rare feature for grounds that can host football.
The last FA Cup final staged there really stands out - 2006, in which Liverpool beat West Ham on penalties after a truly thrilling 3-3 contest. It provided two hours of pulsating football in the South Wales sunshine, and was a mixture of the brilliant and the bizarre.
All three West Ham goals came in the latter category - a Jamie Carragher own goal, a Pepe Reina fumble which led to a Dean Ashton tap-in, and an attempted cross from Paul Konchesky which ended up in the back of Reina's net. West Ham were never behind until it came to the shoot-out.
It is rightly remembered as Steven Gerrard's final. The iconic Liverpool skipper produced a thumping strike into the roof of the net to make it 2-2 and a 35-yard rocket right at the end of 90 minutes for 3-3 and extra time.
It was the build-up to that famous goal that sticks in my memory. The stadium announcer was about to proclaim that there would be four added minutes. Djibril Cisse had gone down with cramp and West Ham defender Lionel Scaloni put the ball out so that the Liverpool striker could get some treatment.
Despite losing and with so little time left, Liverpool still stuck to the sporting creed. Didi Hamann, I think it was, threw the ball back to the opposition, in fact to Scaloni. The on-loan right-back did not get enough distance to his clearance. Liverpool played the ball forward and then it broke out to Gerrard for his phenomenal goal. Scaloni never played for West Ham again but is still making his mark in football as manager of Argentina.
In the shoot-out, Reina more than made amends for some erratic moments in the match, with fine saves from Bobby Zamora, Konchesky and Anton Ferdinand to bring a conclusion to a game you never wanted to end.
It brings me closer to a man missed by so many of us in the football community, the late Gary Speed. When he was a player, our paths crossed regularly in his days at Leeds, Newcastle, Everton, Bolton and Sheffield United. He was always up for a chat about football and very good company. Later after 85 caps for Wales, he went on to become their national team manager.
He was in charge when England were to play at the Millennium Stadium in March 2011, a huge game for Gary and his country. I was mindful of that when I asked if I could have 10 minutes with him on the day before my commentary on the international for Sky Sports.
We met after breakfast before the team left for a behind-closed-doors training session and, as usual, he was generous with his time. That generosity extended to an invitation to watch the "secret" session - a judgement he made on our friendship, not my nationality. Of course, it was very beneficial for my work the next day.
Eight months later, he was gone but, for me, never to be forgotten.
On Thursday: Martin brings us his guide to Barcelona's Nou Camp
