"DES LYNAM SAID, 'DRURY, YOU'RE LUCKY. YOU CAN WALK INTO SAINSBURY'S AND NOBODY KNOWS WHO THE HELL YOU ARE'"

After 30 years of turning football into poetry, Peter Drury has stepped into Martin Tyler's sizeable shoes this term - from Tshabalala to Manolas, Sky's new commentator relives some of his most famous moments, and tells FFT why he's happier out of the spotlight

- Chris Flanagan

If Peter Drury was in any doubt about the size of the job he was taking on this season, he needed only to look at the massive display on the wall in the foyer of his new home, Sky Studios in west London. “The greatest show on Earth,” it exclaims, alongside a photograph of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, celebrating the fact that Sky is still the home of the Premier League, as it has been since the league’s launch in 1992.

Until this season, the biggest games were accompanied by the dulcet tones of Martin Tyler – this summer, it was Drury who was summoned to take over the microphone and describe the action. “It’s a great honour,” the commentator tells FFT, as we meet him on what’s actually his first day exploring the studios – the majority of his working days are spent on stadium gantries up and down the country, or studiously researching his next match from home.

The son of a Kent vicar who was educated in Surrey and is now based in Hertfordshire, the 55-year-old has formed a cult following over the years courtesy of his work with BBC Radio, ITV, BT Sport, Amazon Prime, Premier League Productions and even further afield for SuperSport of South Africa, plus American channels CBS and NBC – he still commentates on Saturday Premier League matches for the latter, alongside his latest role as Sky’s new voice of Super Sunday.