Peter Crouch

At 43 years old, Peter Crouch has this physical status:

Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who competed as a striker.

He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country in that time and appearing in two World Cups.

Crouch is one of only 28 players to have scored 100 or more Premier League goals, tying for the most Premier League goals.

He failed to make a Spurs debut, and after loan spells with Dulwich Hamlet and Swedish club IFK Hässleholm, he joined Queens Park Rangers.

Portsmouth acquired QPR in a transfer agreement worth £1.5 million after QPR was relegated at the end of the 2000–01 season.

He had a good first season at Fratton Park, and after scoring 19 goals for the club, he joined Aston Villa in March 2002 for £5 million.

He had a short time at Villa, but he was loaned out to Norwich City in 2003 before starting a new one in Southampton, where he revived his form, which led to his joining Liverpool in July 2005.

He won the FA Cup and FA Community Shield in 2006 and then won a runners-up medal in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final at Liverpool. Portsmouth recalled Crouch for £11 million, where he formed a fruitful relationship with fellow England international Jermain Defoe after scoring 42 goals in three seasons at Anfield.

In his second season at Portsmouth, he was involved with Tottenham Hotspur, where he collaborated with Defoe and Harry Redknapp once more.

He scored a crucial goal for Tottenham against Manchester City, earning the club a spot in the UEFA Champions League.

In ten European matches for Spurs from 2010–11, he scored seven goals, but was unable to reproduce this form in the Premier League.

He joined Stoke City in August 2011 for a club record fee of £10 million.

He scored 14 goals and received the club's Player of the Year award in his first season with Stoke.

In 2012–13, he scored eight goals and then finished ten in both the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons.

Crouch spent seven-and-a-half years with Stoke, scoring 62 goals before moving to Burnley in January 2019.

In July 2019, he resigned.

Early life

Crouch was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, but his family moved to Singapore when he was one year old. Bruce, a Fulham man, took up a job offer to work at a Singaporean advertisement company, prompting the change. After Bruce denied the opportunity to work in Australia, the Crouch family lived three years in Southeast Asia and returned to England. They spent time at a YMCA in Tottenham before settling in Harrow on the Hill. Crouch played football for Northolt Hotspurs in Roxeth Primary and North Ealing Primary. He was then invited to join the Brentford Centre of Excellence in 1991 and also played for the West Middlesex Colts while attending Drayton Manor High School. Crouch turned down Chelsea and Millwall's contracts and instead joined Queens Park Rangers in the summer of 1994. He did not stay at QPR for long, but the coaching staff at Loftus Road in November 1994 resigned, including youth team manager Des Bulpin, who gave Crouch a deal with Spurs.

Crouch's family was Chelsea supporters, and he began playing football at Stamford Bridge at the age of ten. He appeared at Chelsea matches as a child. Despite this, he and his colleagues were avid fans of QPR, according to the Liverpool official website.

Personal life

Abbey Clancy, a Crouch and model, married on June 30, 2011. Sophia Ruby (born March 2011), Liberty Rose (born June 2015), and Jack (born June 2019) are the two children's siblings.

Crouch was found guilty of speeding in November 2011 and sentenced to £15,000 in fines. Crouch was barred from driving for six months from driving on October 16, 2012.

In 2007, Crouch's autobiography, Walking Tall – My Story, was released. In 2018, his second book, How to Be a Footballer, was published. The first series of That Peter Crouch Podcast aired in autumn 2018, starring Crouch, Tom Fordyce, and Chris Stark.

While at Tottenham Hotspur, Crouch has earned a GNVQ in Leisure and Tourism, which he obtained as part of a compulsory educational program.

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Club career

After playing for their youth team, Crouch signed a professional deal with Tottenham Hotspur on July 2nd, 1998. However, he did not make any appearances for their first team and was loaned out to other clubs, spent brief stints at Dulwich Hamlet in Sweden in the summer of 2000, where he played in Sweden's third division. Jon Jönsson was sold by IFK Hässleholm to Tottenham for £70,000, and the Swedish club, Crouch and Alton Thelwell, agreed two loan terms for the Swedish club.

Tottenham sold Crouch to Queens Park Rangers for £60,000 on July 28, 2000. He made an immediate impact with QPR, scoring ten league goals in the 2000–01 season, but it wasn't enough to prevent the team from losing the Second Division.

QPR had to sell several of their best players to fund their declining budgets after relegation, and Portsmouth bought Crouch for £1.5 million. During the 2001–02 season, Crouch scored 18 league goals in 37 starts for Portsmouth, and boss Graham Rix tipped him to have a big future in the game.

Aston Villa, a Premier League club, made a fruitful £5 million bid for Crouch in March 2002. He scored on his home debut for Villa, the equalizing goal against Newcastle United, and went on to score twice in seven appearances. However, Crouch failed to secure a regular place in the Aston Villa team in the aftermath of the 2002-2003 season, with 18 appearances without scoring. He was loaned to Norwich City from September to December 2003, aiming for first team football. Crouch scored four goals for the Canaries in 2003–2004, helping the team gain promotion. Crouch was sent back for retaliation after Norwich's 3–1 victory over Walsall, but he's still has a keen interest in his future at Norwich.

At the end of the three-month loan, he returned to Aston Villa and scored a brace against Leicester City, a late winner at Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers' opener. Villa sold Crouch in July 2004 to Southampton for £2.5 million.

Despite being back-up to first choice strikers James Beattie and Kevin Phillips, Crouch became the Southampton team's top attacking concern upon his arrival and the sale of Beattie. He scored several key goals in Southampton's relegation war, including memorable goals against Liverpool in a 2–0 home win, Arsenal in a 1–1 home draw, and two away to Middlesbrough in a 3–1 victory. He also kicked former club and Saints' arch-rival Portsmouth out of the FA Cup after scoring a late winning penalty. His play for the Saints culminated in him receiving his first England call-up. When Southampton were relegated from the Premier League after scoring 16 goals in 33 appearances during the 2004-05 season, his future was put into question. Southampton decided to sell Crouch to Liverpool on a four-year contract on July 19, 2005.

During his first months at Liverpool, Crouch came under intense media scrutiny due to a goal drought. He was unable to score in 19 matches over a period of four months. Crouch was praised for other aspects of his game, including his touch with the ball, but his first goal for the club was denied. "Good touch for a big guy" became a media trope during this period. "He's big, he's red, his feet stick out the bed," supporters began to sing "He's big, he's red, and his feet stick out the bed." Peter Crouch, Peter Crouch, began his Liverpool career.

He scored against Wigan Athletic on December 3, 2005, when the drought came to an end. Despite the fact that this first goal was originally intended to be a personal goal, Crouch was later awarded on appeal, and he went on to score his second goal in the same match. Crouch had played over 24 hours of football for Liverpool before scoring. In addition to this, he had to cope with yelling crowds at games, and he often yelled "freak" at him because of his height. He continued to score numerous goals this season, including his first goal against Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round, Liverpool's first victory over them in the FA Cup post-Second World War. He helped Liverpool win the 2006 FA Cup Final against West Ham United on May 13th, providing an assist to Steven Gerrard's second goal.

He was the winning goal for Liverpool in the FA Community Shield's 2–1 victory over Chelsea three months later in the curtain-raiser to the 2006-07 season. He scored his first goals in European club competition against Maccabi Haifa in 2006-07 UEFA Champions League campaign. When playing against Sheffield United in February 2007, Crouch had a fractured nose. Despite playing in several subsequent games, it was announced on March 9 that he would have surgery for the injury that would keep him out of football for a month. He returned to action after the operation and scored the first hat-trick of his club's career on March 31 in a 4–1 victory over Arsenal. This was also a so-called "perfect hat-trick" that featured goals from his right foot, left foot, and head. He later appeared in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, replacing Javier Mascherano after Liverpool were defeated by Milan in Athens. He finished the 2006–07 season as Liverpool's top goalscorer in all competitions, with eighteen goals.

He was denied chances to play for Liverpool in the first round of the Champions League in 2007, including Fernando Torres, but he did win in August against Toulouse, his eighth goal in his previous ten appearances in the Champions League, and then scored the first and last goals of an 8-0 victory over Beşiktaş in the first round of the Champions League. Crouch was dismissed in the quarterfinals of the League Cup on December 19th, with a straight red card for a foul on Chelsea's Mikel John Obi as Liverpool left the tournament. He scored a crucial goal in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal in April, helping Liverpool secure their fourth position ahead of local rivals Everton.

Crouch had verbally agreed to join former club and FA Cup holders Portsmouth in a £16 million contract on July 7, 2008. Crouch died at the hospital the following day, and Crouch's transfer was announced at a Portsmouth news conference on July 11th. In a 3–0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park on August 30, Crouch scored his first goal on his return to Portsmouth on his return to Portsmouth. On September 28, Crouch scored his first goal at Portsmouth's Fratton Park home ground in the Premier League against Tottenham Hotspur. Crouch scored twice in extra time in a UEFA Cup match against Portuguese team Vitória de Guimares on October 2, 2008, to help Portsmouth reach the group stages of the tournament. In a 3–0 win over Fratton Park, he scored twice against Heerenveen, but Portsmouth failed to make it out of the group stage. In 2008–09, Crouch scored 16 goals as the side finished in 14th place, despite playing 46 times for Pompey.

Tottenham Hotspur signed Crouch from Portsmouth for a five-year deal on July 27, 2009. In Tottenham's season opening victory over Liverpool, Crouch made his Premier League debut for the club in a pre-season friendly against Olympiacos. In a 5–1 victory over Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup match, he scored his first goal for Tottenham in the League Cup tie on September 26, 2009. In a 2–1 home victory over Birmingham City, he scored in his second game, launching his Spurs account. Spurs defeated Preston North End 5-1 on September 23rd, Crouch's first hat-trick. Spurs were in a position to earn their first-ever Champions League berth in May after defeating Manchester City in what was dubbed as the "£15 million game." Crouch scored a header after hitting the post and missing a Benoît Assou-Ekotto cross, but goalkeeper Márton Fülöp could only parry the ball into his path.

Crouch scored a hat-trick against Young Boys at White Hart Lane on August 25 to help Tottenham Tottenham Hotspur help them reach the 2010–11 Champions League group stage. Crouch scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the Champions League second leg match against Milan on February 15, 2011 after a counter-attack. Spurs reached the quarter-finals three weeks later after the reverse fixture at White Hart Lane ended 0–0. After receiving two yellow cards in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid on April 5, he was sent off in the 14th minute in the 14th minute. He scored an own goal against Manchester City, which in turn sent City to the Champions League for the 2011–12 season, with Tottenham finishing fifth.

Stoke City signed Crouch from Tottenham for a ten-year deal, which would increase to £12 million. Jonathan Woodgate, a former Tottenham teammate, was a major influence on his decision to join Stoke, according to Crouch, who revealed it on his move to the Britannia Stadium. In a 1–0 victory over former Chelsea Liverpool on September 10, Crouch made his debut for Stoke City. In a 1–1 draw against Manchester United, he scored his first goal for the Potters, making Stoke the sixth Premier League club he has scored for. In the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League campaign, he scored his second goal in the following match against Beşiktaş. Crouch was able to score against Arsenal, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Blackburn Rovers, and Wolverhampton Wanderers before missing out on the Christmas period matches due to a virus.

Crouch scored both goals against Blackburn in a 2–1 win on January 2, 2012. Crouch's debut was a big win for the club, as he met 100 league goals. Crouch scored a spectacular long-distance volley against Manchester City in a 1–1 draw at the Britannia Stadium on March 24. Crouch said after the match that it had been the best goal of his career. On April 7, Stoke defeated Wolves, their Midlands neighbors, raising his goal total to 13 goals against the England squad for UEFA Euro 2012. Crouch received the club's Player of the Year and Goal of the Season awards at the end of the season's awards dinner.

Crouch started the 2012-2013 season strong, scoring five goals in seven games against Swindon Town, Wigan Athletic, Manchester City, and a brace against Swansea City. Fabricio Coloccini mistakenly kicked in the mouth while playing against Newcastle United on November 28, 2012, and as a result, he lost several teeth. He went three months without a goal before scoring against Wigan on January 29. Crouch went through a three-month drought in front of goal before scoring against former club Queens Park Rangers in a 2–0 victory on April 20. He scored against Southampton on the final day of the season, ending the 2012–13 season with eight goals and leaving Stoke 13th in the league.

Mark Hughes took over Tony Pulis as boss in May 2013 and Hughes dropped Crouch to the bench after the first two matches of the 2013-14 season. In a 3–2 loss to Manchester United on October 26, he returned to the starting line up on October 26, 2013 and scored in a 3–2 loss. Crouch maintained his spot in the squad for the remainder of the 2013–14 season, where he finished as the top scorer with ten goals in 38 appearances as Stoke finished in ninth place.

In September 2014 against QPR and Newcastle, Crouch scored his first goals of 2014-15. Crouch said in October 2014 that he would like to live at the Britannia Stadium with Stoke for the remainder of his career. Crouch was deployed as a substitute in Stoke's League Cup loss to Southampton on October 29, 2014; he was dismissed after 15 minutes. He scored after 19 seconds against Arsenal on 6 December in an eventual 3–2 win. In a 1–1 draw at Crystal Palace a week later, Crouch scored the equalizer in his 600th match in English football. In January 2015, Crouch signed a two-year contract extension.

Stoke's 1–0 victory over Hull City on February 28, 2015, equaling Alan Shearer's record of 46 headed goals in the Premier League. He surpassed this on May 24 with a header five minutes after coming on as a replacement to win 6–1 in Stoke's final match of the season. In total, Crouch matched the previous season's record of ten goals in 38 appearances, finishing in ninth place for the second straight season. Crouch underwent groin surgery at the end of the season. Crouch had a rough time in 2015-16, with 18 appearances of which nine were as a replacement. In cup competitions, he scored just twice against lower league Fulham and Doncaster Rovers.

In a 4–0 win over Stevenage in the EFL Cup, Crouch scored a hat-trick against them on August 23, 2016. Crouch signed a new deal with Stoke on January 9, 2017, a term that will continue into the summer of 2018. Crouch scored four goals in five games, including his 100th Premier League goal, making him the oldest player to reach the record. Crouch made 29 appearances in 2016-17, scoring ten goals, as Stoke finished in 13th place. Crouch said he does not want to play until he is 40 years old, after the season came to an end.

On the 20th of November 2017, Crouch took the longest appearances as substitute in the Premier League for the 143rd time against Brighton & Hove Albion, beating the record set by Shola Ameobi. He also became Stoke City's top Premier League goalscorer of all time during the same season, scoring 45 goals and beating Jonathan Walters' 43 points. In November 2017, Crouch signed another one-year contract extension with the Potters. Crouch scored six goals in 2017-18 as Stoke were relegated to the Championships.

Crouch joined Burnley in a player-exchange agreement with Sam Vokes that runs until the end of the 2018–19 season. Crouch made his Burnley debut on February 2nd as a 76th minute replacement in a 1-1 draw against Southampton; he made an immediate difference by being credited with Burnley's first penalty for a season-and-a-half. He was fired at the end of the season and announced his retirement from professional football on July 12, 2019, at the age of 38.

International career

Crouch was capped for the England under 20 team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Birmingham, England, alongside teammates Stuart Taylor, Ashley Cole, Andrew Johnson, and Matthew Etherington. However, the team finished last at the group level, with three losses and no goals scored. He later became a member of David Platt's England under-21 team, which progressed to the European Under-21 Championship finals in Switzerland in May 2002, where he scored once against Switzerland.

In May 2005, he was given his first call-up to the England senior squad by England's squad, beating Colombia for the team's tour of the United States. He went on to make two appearances in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying for England, beginning against Austria in a 1–0 victory and ending as a replacement against Poland in a 2–1 win. England's own backers applauded Crouch's introduction as a second-half substitute in the latter case. In a 2–1 friendly win over Uruguay on March 1, 2006, he scored his first goal for England, as the equalizer. He did this whilst wearing two different squad numbers on his shirt, which was no. On the front, 21 (his designated squad number for the game) and the incorrect No. On the back, there are 12 marks.

Crouch was included in the 23-man England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in May 2006, and he was supposed to be a key figure in the squad due to Wayne Rooney's foot injury. He appeared in a pre-World Cup friendly against Hungary on May 30th, scoring his third goal in England's 3–1 victory. He attained his dream with his first robotic dancing goal celebration. In a 6–0 pre-World Cup friendly win over Jamaica, where he again performed his robotics on June 3rd, he scored a hat-trick.

Crouch teamed with Michael Owen in attack on England's opening 2006 World Cup match against Paraguay on June 10. England defeated the match 1–0, while Crouch kept his place in the starting lineup for the next match against Trinidad and Tobago, in which he scored his first international goal. Crouch appeared to be pulling on Brent Sancho's long hair, holding the defender down, to gain an edge, causing some controversies.

Crouch was suspended for England's third group match against Sweden after Rooney returned from injury to join the starting lineup. Owen sustained a serious knee injury in the first minute of the match, and Crouch was recalled to carry the remainder of the game. Crouch remained an unutilized substitute as Eriksson changed the team to a new formation with Wayne Rooney as the team's lone striker in England's 1–0 second round victory over Ecuador. Crouch came on as a substitute for Joe Cole after Rooney's dismissal for a foul in England's quarter-finals against Portugal, but England continued to lose on penalties after Rooney was dismissed on penalties. Former English referee Graham Poll said on September 5th that FIFA had specifically warned referees at the game to watch Crouch closely, claiming that "he's a real pain and he's getting away with way too much."

Crouch remained a part of England's under new England boss Steve McClaren's successor, Steve McClaren, and launched McClaren's first match in charge, a friendly against Greece in August 2006. In England's 4–0 victory, he scored twice. In England's upcoming match, a 5–0 victory over Andorra in their first qualifying match for UEFA Euro 2008 was followed by two more goals. Crouch was the first player for England to reach ten goals in a single calendar year, according to recent reports. In fact, this had occurred several times before the Second World War, most notably by Dixie Dean (12 goals in 1927) and George Camsell (11 goals in 1929). An operation is required to fix a nose injury suffered while playing for Liverpool. He did not play in England's two qualifying matches in March 2007. In late May and early June 2007, he rejoined the England squad for their matches against Brazil and Estonia, scoring in the qualifying match against the latter. Crouch was England's top scorer in the qualifying season with five goals, but this did not stop England from finishing third in their group and failing to progress to the finals of the tournament.

In a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Ukraine, Crouch made his first appearance under McClaren's successor, Fabio Capello, on April 1, 2009. In England's 2–1 win, he scored his first goal. Following his fine form for Tottenham, Crouch was recalled to the England squad for the friendly against Slovenia and the World Cup qualifier versus Croatia. In the final 2010 World Cup qualifier, Crouch scored in the first half against Belarus, which he later scored in the 76th minute. Crouch's England tally increased his number to 18 goals in just 17 starts this season. Crouch scored a brace after being sent as a replacement in a friendly against Egypt on March 3rd, 2010, taking his overall international goal count to 20. He also scored his second goal for England against Mexico at Wembley Stadium on May 24, 2010.

Crouch was selected in Capello's final 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup and was given the number 9 shirt. In England's first match against the United States, he was brought on as a replacement for Emile Heskey, and Gareth Barry was also off the bench for the following match against Algeria. Crouch did not participate in either the final group stage match against Slovenia or the loss to Germany in the last-16.

Crouch came on as a replacement in the home friendly against France against Steven Gerrard on November 17, 2010. With an angled side-footed volley, he converted from an Ashley Young corner to a score 1–2 on the score 1–2. It was his second touch of the ball. Crouch said in October 2011 that he "does not have a hope" of being called up after not making an appearance for England for almost a year.

Crouch did not qualify for the England squad for UEFA Euro 2012, and he did not qualify for the team. According to boss Roy Hodgson, Crouch refused to participate in the tournament unless he was part of the original squad, which drew criticism directed at him. However, Crouch said later that this was not the case and that he did not want to play for England and that he would not "never" want to play for England.

In a television interview, Crouch said he was not officially released from international football during a stretch of good form in September 2017.

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