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Martin Tyler has recalled how Liverpool's famous 4-3 win over Newcastle United in 1996 was his favorite game to commentate on.
Tyler, 80, was the voice of the Premier League in the UK for decades before hanging up his microphone in 2023, and called countless classic games.
But none of them come close to a game between Liverpool and Newcastle almost 30 years ago, which was settled by an injury-time goal by Stan Collymore.
At the time, Liverpool and Newcastle were vying with Manchester United for the title, and although it was Manchester United that ended up winning the league, for many, that game on Merseyside remains the most memorable moment of the 1995-96 season.
“This has been a stock answer for the period of time since it happened," Tyler told The Mixer when asked about the favorite game he commentated on during his career.
"It was 1996. It was Liverpool four, Newcastle three, which ended with Stan Collymore scoring the winner in added time, and Liverpool, I think Robbie Fowler got two, Stan got two and Ginola scored for Newcastle.
“Asprilla scored. I think Les got the other one and I think it really epitomized everything that’s good about football. Both teams were going for the title. Neither of them won it.
"They almost punched themselves out, really, in that night. There was Kevin Keegan hanging over the advertising boards. A famous shot when the seventh goal of the game went in.”
Tyler went on to recall how he was working alongside Collymore on the radio nearly 20 years later when the pair encountered Faustino Asprilla, and a humorous exchange ensued.
“I’ve told this story a few times, but I’ll share it with you again," he said. "2014 World Cup first game in Brazil, in Sao Paulo. Stan’s working for talkSPORT.
"Unusual for a ground they had a lift up to the top high commentary position. So Stan and I are going up in the lift to start our work, and the lift door opens up at the gantry level.
“Staring us in the face to come into the lift is Faustino Asprilla, and he goes to Stan without thinking, like he goes, ‘You cost me my Premier League winners medal’.
"They just both burst out laughing. I thought that it meant that much that an instinctive reaction goes back to that game.”
English (US) ·