It has been quite the year for Oliver Skipp and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Spurs midfielder has gone from playing in the first test event at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to featuring eight times for the first team this season, including in recent matches against Norwich City in the FA Cup and a 1-1 draw with Burnley in the Premier League.
In addition, he featured twice for Spurs at the new stadium towards the end of last season, featuring in a 4-0 win against Huddersfield Town and a 2-2 draw with Everton in the Premier League.
But Skipp recalls the first time he saw the stadium with fondness, one year on from starting the first ever game at the new stadium as Tottenham's U18 side played against Southampton in front of almost 29,000 people.
Skipp, who was then 18, captained the side as Spurs won 3-1 on the day, and he has looked back at the day and his first impressions of the club's new home.
Speaking to Tottenham's club website, he said: "It’s gone quickly – it doesn’t feel like a year. I remember everything about arriving there, because we took the coach to the game, seeing the stadium as we came up the road, I don’t know how to describe it – it was such a massive change.
"I remember going to the old stadium but just to see it in the same place but completely modernized and pretty much double the size, it was incredible.
"It was a surreal experience, especially because when we walked out after getting off the coach we were directly opposite the big South Stand so when we first came in, that was the first thing we noticed, just the size of it and how steep it was. You could imagine what that would be like on a Champions League night – that was the first thing that came into my head."
Skipp and his team-mates have had the opportunity to get used to their surroundings though, and the Spurs midfielder said that there are already some special memories for Tottenham to look back on from games at the new stadium.
"It definitely feels like home, especially due to the location still being the same, and it still has the same feel, the atmosphere that’s created," he said.
"I think back to the [Manchester] City game this year, some of the Champions League games like where we were 2-0 down against Olympiacos and then came back, they were the games where you really felt the benefit of the crowd.
"And even the games last year on the road to the Champions League Final, the City game at home when Hugo [Lloris] saved the penalty – just the roar of the crowd after that will live long in the memory. When we finally moved into that stadium it was everything you’d imagined and more.
"For all the Academy boys, no matter where your career takes you, you can always say that you were part of that game – the moment when the first ball was kicked, the first goal was scored, moments like that.
