Someone will follow Martin Tyler but no one can replace him!

TV commentator Martin Tyler, whose departure from Sky Sports was announced on Saturday, has been a common thread in English football since its biggest revolution in 1992.

Tyler was in his mid-40s and knew football existed before the Premier League, but like Sir Alex Ferguson, he embraced progress and new ways without sacrificing his values, either as a broadcaster or as a lover of the game.

“Someone will follow Martin, but no one can replace him. He is by far the best ever,” said former Sky presenter Richard Keys warmly about his colleague. “He wanted to be mentioned in the same breath as Brian Moore, David Coleman, John Motson. He turned out better, better, better.

“He played live matches week in, week out for over 30 years, where there was no room for error.”

Tyler, now 77, will be best remembered for his undying cry of ‘Aguerooooo…’ after the striker won in stoppage time against QPR to give Manchester City their first Premier League title in 2012.

He will be fondly remembered for commenting on Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal for Man City against QPR in 2012.

Tyler’s emphasis on ‘Aguerooooo’ has become legendary, as he then told fans to ‘drink it in’ as Aguero drove off to celebrate the dramatic late goal with his teammates.

There was quite a long pause which he later explained had more to do with the noise in the stadium than emphasis.

“If I had said something after the oooos, no one would have heard,” he admitted.

‘Since then the reactions have been humiliating. It was Sergio’s moment, I just hung on to it.

“As an ex-manager told me, ‘At least you didn’t mess up!’ All commentators are terrified of being wrong at the big moment, and that was okay.”

Tyler rarely, if ever, messed up. He had a long apprenticeship with ITV and BSkyB before becoming ‘The Voice of the Premier League’, building great partnerships with co-commentators Andy Gray, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.

Sky invested millions in their glitzy Super Sunday offer and Tyler succeeded from week one – Nottingham Forest v Liverpool and a historic first strike from Teddy Sheringham.

“Sheringham goes for goal… Ohhh, first Premier League goal for Nottingham Forest… and it’s a peach,” he put it.

Sky was accused of injecting an obscene amount of money into football, which at times made it feel more like a business than a sport.

Tyler has always had a warm relationship with his colleagues, including Gary Neville (left)

Still, a lifelong Woking fan and former Corinthian Casuals player, Tyler remained in place throughout as a reassuring presence for those rooted in the game.

“He eats, sleeps, lives, breathes and dreams of football,” Keys added. When we traveled to games, he would spend his time taking notes or updating records. A social outing for him would be to watch Woking play.

His on-air collaboration with Andy Gray will never be surpassed. Martin would be more dignified in front of legislators if Andy wanted to take on the umpire as a former player!

My favorite line of commentary was Tony Adams’ goal for Arsenal against Everton. Tony had been encouraged to play football by Arsène Wenger and when the ball hit the net and Adams raised his arms, Martin’s line ‘That sums it all up’ summed up the moment perfectly.’

Tyler always tried to keep up with the times. He tried to automate the thick amount of notes he kept, and when laptops became the norm, he made sure his kids taught him how to use one.

He even came up with his own slogan: ‘And it’s live!’ But old-fashioned habits also remained. He would hang out in the tunnel area bumping into managers to find out what was going on.

“The world has moved on, but the work is still the same. Provide information at the relevant times,’ he explained. And it’s not just a job for me. It’s nice to hang out with football people. Football is a force for good in a world where there are so many differences.’

His first co-commentator, Jack Charlton at the 1982 World Cup, provided great insight and some unconscious lighter moments when he called Spain goalkeeper Luis Arconada Anaconda.

His collaboration with Gray in the early Sky years became legendary. “Instead of waiting to dissect the goal, Andy often shouted ‘You Beauty’ as soon as the goal went in – and it worked. It’s one of my strengths, to keep my mouth shut!’ he remembers.

Tyler’s on-air partnership with Andy Gray throughout the Premier League’s first 19 years became legendary, with the two feeding off each other seamlessly

“At Sky we had to take the audience with us. It had to be economically justified. In the beginning, when we traveled to games by train, we looked out the window and counted the number of satellite dishes on houses.

“At ITV we had camera crews working on Coronation Street for maybe all week. One of them asked me to point out who Kenny Dalglish was! But it was different with Sky, we were all busy. It was a team effort.’

However, with the Sky team’s efforts not including Tyler, he will still be working in stadiums next season for Premier League Productions as part of their world feed.

One of his PLP commentators is Jim Beglin, former Liverpool and Ireland star, who acknowledges: ‘When I first joined broadcasting Martin was king and I still look up to him.

“He has a beautiful, natural way of delivering what he wants and conveying the information. “He’s a protector of the game. He loves football and knows everything. He will always want to make sure that the game is not harmed.’