18/04 - 17:45
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 17:45
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
18/04 - 20:00
This continuation of the Playmaker ‘underrated series’ looks at one of the more celebrated ‘characters’ of the English game; Peter Crouch. However, Crouch is not necessarily lauded as much for his wit and personality as for his footballing ability, despite a genuinely impressive career.
Breaking through
A youth career that took him across London from Brentford to QPR and eventually to Tottenham Hotspur did not lead to an immediate breakthrough at Spurs. Loan spells at Dulwich Hamlet and Swedish side IFK Hassleholm were not storming success stories but provided senior experience in his final year at Tottenham. A two-year spell, between 1998 and 2000, whereby he didn’t make a league appearance for the club.
Despite having not played for the club, Tottenham managed to get a fee of £60,000 for Crouch as he moved on to one of those former youth academies he was at in Queens Park Rangers. Ten goals in 42 games was an impressive return for his first full season of professional football and to do that in the rough and tough league of the First Division, at the age of 19, was even more impressive. Especially in a QPR side that would be relegated that season.
So impressive was Crouch’s performance in that campaign that the already regular occurrence of Crouch moving clubs continued at the end of the 2000/01 season as he joined Portsmouth in the 2001/02 season for a fee of £1.5 million.
Crouch, once more in the First Division, improved on his own goal scoring exploits from the previous season at QPR. The 6ft 7inch front man notched 18 times in 37 appearances, earning a move to Premiership side Aston Villa for £5 million.
Crouch, partially down to injury but more due to a lack of trust in the striker after the step up in division, struggled to nail down a regular starting spot at Villa Park and was shifted on loan back down to the First Division at Norwich City whereby he managed four goals in 15 games. That contribution helped the Canaries back into the top-flight where he was to join their soon-to-be fellow relegation battlers Southampton.
It is at the Saints whereby Crouch announced himself as evidently good enough for top-flight football in England. Despite another disappointing campaign for the club he was at, like at QPR and Portsmouth, he succeeded on a personal level managing an impressive 12 goals in 27 games as Southampton were relegated.
The next phase
He had proven himself to be someone who could contribute moments, on a fairly regular basis, that massively helped and improved the club he was at. It was enough for the then European champions, Liverpool, to come in and buy him from Southampton for £7 million, signing a four-year deal.
For someone to maintain a scoring record at top-flight level is very difficult. It is especially difficult when, despite being a striker, it is not your most pivotal role to the side. A difficult first-half of the season for Crouch saw him struggle in front of goal but still worthy of a place in Rafa Benitez’s side.
He won his first major honour at the end of that season with Liverpool as they won the FA Cup against West Ham United in the famous ‘Gerrard final’ in Cardiff.
Nine goals in 32 games in the Premier League was a strong return for Crouch, as a striker who, as mentioned, offered a lot more to his game than his goal scoring attributes. It also contributed to him finishing the season as the Reds’ top goal scorer with 18 goals in all competitions after their 2-1 defeat to AC Milan in Athens in the 2007 UEFA Champions League final.
His return to Portsmouth in the summer of 2008 followed a season in which his opportunities were limited due to the arrival of Fernando Torres. He still continued his habit of popping up with goals in European competitions as he helped Pompey in their, as yet, only UEFA Cup campaign whereby they were knocked out in the group stages.
An impressive season, in all competitions, at Fratton Park meant that Harry Redknapp wanted to work with him once again for a fourth time. Twice at Portsmouth, once at Southampton and now at Tottenham Hotspur.
Crouch would go on to ‘come up clutch’ as football supporters that have Americanised their language into the context of football would suggest. A goal away at Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City took Spurs into the UEFA Champions League whilst a winner at San Siro saw Tottenham knock AC Milan out in the Last 16 of that competition the following season. He would go on to be sent off in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid, though.
Leaving the peak
A peak that included UEFA Champions League finals’, major tournament goals for England and score over 50 goals in the Premier League was coming to an end as, at the age of 30, he joined Stoke City.
It wasn’t the end of his European days, though, as Stoke, who had qualified for the UEFA Europa League by reaching the FA Cup final the previous season, reached the knockout stages of that competition – thanks in part to two in three for Crouch in the group stages. They were his 23rd and 24th goals in European competition.
He reached double figures in the Premier League for Stoke that season and eventually went into the Premier League 100 club during his spell at The Potters. It would also be criminal to not mention one of the great goals of the Premier League era; that touch and volley screamer looping over Joe Hart in the Manchester City goal goes down as one of the very best.
He eventually left Stoke after seven and a half seasons at the club and finished his career at, the home of the target man, Sean Dyche’s Burnley in 2019.
International recognition
It isn’t just at club level where Crouch has made a notable impact. In 42 England caps, he scored 22 goals. That is an average of 0.52 and leaves him joint 17th on the list of all-time England goal scorers. Only a certain few players have a better goals per game ratio and only 16 have scored more in total. It also includes a goal against Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Lots of players fail to play well for their country; Crouch was not one of them.
Whether it be the robot goal celebration or his new podcasting career, Crouch never quite got the recognition he deserved for being actually very talented and effective.
Coming up in the big moments, scoring several scissor-kicks, the PL 100 club, an exceptional England record… Peter Crouch is, quite frankly, underrated.
