Peter Crouch facts for kids
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Crouch playing for Stoke City in 2014
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Peter James Crouch | ||
| Date of birth | 30 January 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Macclesfield, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1993 | Brentford | ||
| 1994–1995 | Queens Park Rangers | ||
| 1995–1998 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2000 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | (0) |
| 2000 | → Dulwich Hamlet (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2000 | → IFK Hässleholm (loan) | 8 | (3) |
| 2000–2001 | Queens Park Rangers | 42 | (10) |
| 2001–2002 | Portsmouth | 37 | (18) |
| 2002–2004 | Aston Villa | 37 | (6) |
| 2003 | → Norwich City (loan) | 15 | (4) |
| 2004–2005 | Southampton | 27 | (12) |
| 2005–2008 | Liverpool | 85 | (22) |
| 2008–2009 | Portsmouth | 38 | (11) |
| 2009–2011 | Tottenham Hotspur | 73 | (12) |
| 2011–2019 | Stoke City | 225 | (46) |
| 2019 | Burnley | 6 | (0) |
| Total | 599 | (145) | |
| International career | |||
| 2002–2003 | England U21 | 6 | (1) |
| 2006 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| 2005–2010 | England | 42 | (22) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Peter James Crouch (born on January 30, 1981) is a famous English former footballer. He played as a striker and was known for being very tall. He played for the England national team 42 times between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals. He also played in two FIFA World Cup tournaments.
Peter Crouch is one of only 33 players who have scored 100 or more goals in the Premier League. He also holds the record for the most goals scored with his head in Premier League history. Even though he was very tall and thin, he was great at using his height to win balls in the air. He was also good at controlling the ball and helping his teammates.
Crouch started his football journey as a young player at Tottenham Hotspur. He later played for many other clubs, including Queens Park Rangers, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Southampton, and Liverpool. At Liverpool, he won the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield in 2006. He also reached the final of the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final. After leaving Liverpool, he returned to Portsmouth and then Tottenham Hotspur. He helped Tottenham get into the UEFA Champions League for the first time. He then moved to Stoke City in 2011, where he played for many years and became a fan favorite. He finished his career at Burnley in 2019.
Contents
Early Life and Youth Football
Peter Crouch was born in Macclesfield, England. When he was one year old, his family moved to Singapore because his dad got a job there. They lived in Southeast Asia for three years before moving back to England.
Back in England, Peter started playing football for local teams like Northolt Hotspurs. He joined the Brentford Centre of Excellence in 1991. He also played for West Middlesex Colts. Peter had offers from big clubs like Chelsea and Millwall, but he chose to join Queens Park Rangers in 1994. However, he didn't stay there long. Many coaches from QPR moved to Tottenham Hotspur, and they offered Peter a contract there in 1994.
Even though his family supported Chelsea, Peter became a ball boy at their stadium, Stamford Bridge, when he was ten. He later said that he and his friends were actually fans of QPR.
Club Career Highlights
Starting at Tottenham and Loans
Peter Crouch signed his first professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur on July 2, 1998. He played for their youth team but didn't get to play for the main team. Instead, he went on loan to other clubs to gain experience. He played for Dulwich Hamlet in England and then for IFK Hässleholm in Sweden in 2000.
QPR and Portsmouth Success
In July 2000, Tottenham sold Crouch to First Division club Queens Park Rangers for £60,000. He quickly showed his talent, scoring ten goals in his first season. However, QPR was relegated to a lower league that year.
Because of the relegation, QPR had to sell some of their best players. Portsmouth bought Crouch for £1.5 million. He had a fantastic season with Portsmouth, scoring 18 goals in 37 games during the 2001–02 season. His manager at the time, Graham Rix, believed he had a very bright future in football.
Moving to Aston Villa and Southampton
In March 2002, Premier League club Aston Villa bought Crouch for £5 million. He scored in his first home game for Villa against Newcastle United. However, he found it hard to get a regular spot in the team.
To get more playing time, he was loaned to Norwich City from September to December 2003. He played 15 games and scored four goals, helping Norwich get promoted. After his loan, he returned to Aston Villa and scored some important goals. In July 2004, Villa sold Crouch to Southampton for £2.5 million.
At Southampton, Crouch became a key player. He scored many important goals, including against Liverpool and Arsenal. His great form at Southampton led to him being called up to the England squad for the first time. After scoring 16 goals in 33 games, Southampton was relegated from the Premier League. On July 19, 2005, Liverpool bought Crouch for £7 million.
Liverpool Glory Days
When Peter Crouch first joined Liverpool, he faced a lot of pressure because he didn't score for his first 19 games. People talked a lot about his "good touch for a big man."
Finally, on December 3, 2005, he scored his first goal for Liverpool against Wigan Athletic. He then scored a second goal in the same match. He went on to score many more goals that season, including the only goal against Manchester United in the FA Cup. On May 13, he helped Liverpool win the 2006 FA Cup Final against West Ham United.
Three months later, he scored the winning goal for Liverpool against Chelsea in the FA Community Shield. In February 2007, he broke his nose playing against Sheffield United. After surgery, he returned on March 31 and scored his first hat-trick (three goals in one game) for a club against Arsenal. This was a "perfect hat-trick" because he scored with his right foot, left foot, and head! He also played in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, where Liverpool lost to Milan. He finished the 2006–07 season as Liverpool's top scorer with 18 goals.
In the 2007–08 season, he didn't play as much because new strikers like Fernando Torres arrived. However, he still scored important goals in the UEFA Champions League, including two in an 8–0 win against Beşiktaş. He left Liverpool after scoring 42 goals in three seasons.
Back to Portsmouth and Tottenham
On July 7, 2008, Peter Crouch rejoined his former club Portsmouth in a deal worth £11 million. He quickly started scoring goals again, including two in a UEFA Cup match that helped Portsmouth reach the group stages. He played 46 games for Portsmouth in the 2008–09 season, scoring 16 goals.
On July 27, 2009, Tottenham Hotspur signed Crouch again for £10 million. He made his debut for Spurs in a friendly game. He scored his first goal for Tottenham in a League Cup match. In May, he scored a very important late goal against Manchester City. This goal helped Tottenham get a spot in the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever!
On August 25, 2010, Crouch scored another hat-trick against Young Boys to help Tottenham reach the group stage of the Champions League. He scored seven goals in ten European matches that season.
Stoke City Years
On August 31, 2011, Stoke City signed Crouch from Tottenham for a club record fee of £10 million. He made his debut for Stoke on September 10, 2011, against his old club Liverpool. He scored his first goal for Stoke against Manchester United, meaning he had now scored for six different Premier League clubs.
On January 2, 2012, he scored two goals against Blackburn, which meant he had scored over 100 league goals in his career. On March 24, 2012, Crouch scored an amazing long-distance volley against Manchester City, which he called the best goal of his career. At the end of the season, he won Stoke City's Player of the Year and Goal of the Season awards.
Crouch continued to score important goals for Stoke in the following seasons. In October 2014, he said he wanted to stay at Stoke for the rest of his career. On February 28, 2015, he scored the winning goal against Hull City, which tied Alan Shearer's record of 46 headed goals in the Premier League. He broke this record on May 24 with another header against Liverpool.
On January 9, 2017, Crouch signed a new contract with Stoke. He scored his 100th Premier League goal that year, becoming the oldest player to reach this milestone. He played 29 games in the 2016–17 season, scoring ten goals.
On November 20, 2017, Crouch set a new record for the most appearances as a substitute in the Premier League, coming off the bench for the 143rd time. He also became Stoke City's all-time leading Premier League goalscorer with 45 goals. He played 34 games in the 2017–18 season, scoring six goals, but Stoke was relegated to the Championship.
Final Club: Burnley
Crouch signed for Burnley on January 31, 2019. He made his debut on February 2, coming on as a substitute against Southampton. He retired from professional football on July 12, 2019, at the age of 38.
International Career for England
Youth and Senior Team Debut
Peter Crouch played for the England under-20 team in 1999 and the England under-21 team in 2002.
In May 2005, he was called up to the England senior squad for the first time by manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He made his debut against Colombia. He scored his first goal for England on March 1, 2006, in a friendly win against Uruguay.
2006 World Cup and the Robot Dance
In May 2006, Crouch was chosen for England's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. On May 30, he scored a goal in a friendly game against Hungary. After scoring, he performed his famous robotic dancing goal celebration. He did the dance again after scoring two goals in another friendly against Jamaica on June 3.
Crouch played in England's first World Cup match against Paraguay. He then scored his first goal in a competitive international match against Trinidad and Tobago. England reached the quarter-finals but were knocked out by Portugal.
Crouch continued to play for England under new manager Steve McClaren. He scored two goals against Greece in August 2006 and two more against Andorra in September 2006. He was England's top scorer in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with five goals.
Under Fabio Capello
On April 1, 2009, Crouch started his first game under manager Fabio Capello and scored England's first goal in a 2–1 win against Ukraine. He scored two more goals against Belarus in October 2009, bringing his total for England to 18 goals in just 17 starts. He scored two goals against Egypt in March 2010, reaching 20 international goals.
2010 World Cup and Beyond
Crouch was part of Capello's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He came on as a substitute in England's opening matches against the United States and Algeria. England was knocked out by Germany in the last-16.
He scored his last international goal on November 17, 2010, against France. He later said in 2017 that he had not officially retired from international football.
Player Profile
How He Played
Peter Crouch was a very tall forward with a slim build. He was known for his excellent first touch and his ability to score goals. Even though he wasn't very fast or strong, he was amazing at holding up the ball with his back to the goal and passing to his teammates. He also holds the record for the most headed goals in Premier League history, showing how good he became in the air despite his height. He was also known for scoring acrobatic goals, like bicycle kicks. Peter Crouch has often said that his success came from his hard work and determination.
His Personality and Nicknames
Peter Crouch is often called "Crouchy." Fans and the media also gave him nicknames like "RoboCrouch" because of his dance, and "Crouchinho."
The Robotic Dance
In the summer of 2006, Peter Crouch started doing a robotic dance as a goal celebration. He first did it after scoring for England against Hungary. He did it again after scoring two goals against Jamaica. The dance was inspired by a funny dance he did at a party shown on TV.
He later said he would only do the dance again if England won the World Cup, or if he scored a really big goal. On February 1, 2017, he brought back the dance one last time to celebrate his 100th Premier League goal.
After Football
After retiring from football in 2019, Peter Crouch has worked on TV shows. He was part of a BBC One show called Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer. In 2022, he became a judge on the TV series The Masked Dancer.
Peter has also written books about his life and football career. His first book was called Walking Tall – My Story (2007). He also wrote How to be a Footballer (2018) and I, Robot (2019). He also has a popular podcast called That Peter Crouch Podcast.
He has a GNVQ (General National Vocational Qualification) in Leisure and Tourism, which he earned while at Tottenham Hotspur.
Honours
Norwich City
- Football League First Division: 2003–04
Liverpool
- FA Cup: 2005–06
- FA Community Shield: 2006
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2006–07
- FIFA Club World Championship runner-up: 2005
Individual
- Queens Park Rangers Player of the Season: 2000–01
- Portsmouth Player of the Season: 2001–02
- Stoke City Player of the Year: 2011–12
- Stoke City Goal of the Season: 2011–12
Images for kids
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Crouch training with England in 2007
See also
In Spanish: Peter Crouch para niños
