70 Facts About Peter Crouch

Peter James Crouch was born on 30 January 1981 and is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Peter Crouch was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and appearing at two FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Peter Crouch is one of 33 players to have scored 100 or more Premier League goals, and holds the record for the most headed goals in Premier League history.

Peter Crouch failed to make an appearance for Spurs and after loan spells at Dulwich Hamlet and Swedish club IFK Hassleholm he joined Queens Park Rangers.

Peter Crouch had a relatively poor spell at Villa and was loaned out to Norwich City in 2003 before making a move to Southampton, where he regained his form, which would ultimately prompt his joining Liverpool in July 2005.

Peter Crouch spent just one season in his second spell at Portsmouth and left for Tottenham Hotspur, where he again linked up with Defoe and Harry Redknapp.

Peter Crouch scored a vital goal for Tottenham against Manchester City which earned the club a place in the UEFA Champions League.

Peter Crouch spent seven and a half years with Stoke, scoring 62 goals before joining Burnley in January 2019.

Peter Crouch retired in July 2019 after the end of his contract.

Peter Crouch was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, but his family moved to Singapore when he was one year old.

The Peter Crouch family spent three years living in Southeast Asia, and moved back to England after Bruce rejected the chance to work in Australia.

Peter Crouch attended Roxeth Primary and North Ealing Primary and began to play football with Northolt Hotspurs.

Peter Crouch was then invited to join the Brentford Centre of Excellence in 1991 and he played for the boys club West Middlesex Colts whilst attending Drayton Manor High School.

Peter Crouch turned down contract offers from Chelsea and Millwall and instead joined Queens Park Rangers in the summer of 1994.

Peter Crouch did not stay at QPR for long for in November 1994, the coaching staff at Loftus Road moved to Tottenham Hotspur, including its youth team manager Des Bulpin, who offered Crouch a contract at Spurs.

Peter Crouch's family were Chelsea supporters, and he became a ball boy at Stamford Bridge at the age of ten.

Peter Crouch signed a professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur on 2 July 1998, after having played for their youth team.

Peter Crouch scored on his home debut for Villa, the equalising goal against Newcastle United, and went on to score twice in seven appearances.

Peter Crouch scored a late winning penalty to knock former club and Saints' arch-rival Portsmouth out of the FA Cup.

Peter Crouch underwent intense media scrutiny because of a goal drought during his first months at Liverpool.

Peter Crouch was praised for other facets of his game, such as his touch on the ball, but his first goal for the club evaded him.

The fact that Peter Crouch possessed "good touch for a big man" became something of a media cliche during this time.

Peter Crouch went on to score several goals that season, including the only goal in the fifth round of the FA Cup against Manchester United, Liverpool's first victory over them in the FA Cup post-Second World War.

Peter Crouch sustained a broken nose when playing against Sheffield United in February 2007.

Peter Crouch later participated in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, coming on as a substitute for Javier Mascherano as Liverpool were defeated by Milan in Athens.

On 2 October 2008, Peter Crouch scored twice in extra time in a UEFA Cup match away to Portuguese team Vitoria de Guimaraes to help Portsmouth reach the group stages of the competition.

Peter Crouch made his debut for Spurs in a pre-season friendly against Olympiacos, and came on as a substitute in Tottenham's season opening win over Liverpool, making his full Premier League debut for the club in the process.

On 15 February 2011, Peter Crouch scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the Champions League second round, first leg match against Milan at the San Siro, sweeping home Aaron Lennon's cut-back after a counter-attack.

Peter Crouch went on to score against Arsenal, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers before missing out on the Christmas period matches after suffering from a virus.

Peter Crouch scored the winning goal for Stoke against their Midlands rivals Wolves on 7 April to take his goal tally to 13 and was backed by manager Tony Pulis to earn a recall to the England squad for UEFA Euro 2012.

Peter Crouch lost several teeth after being accidentally kicked in the mouth by Fabricio Coloccini in a match against Newcastle United on 28 November 2012 and as a result had to undergo corrective surgery.

Peter Crouch then went three months without a goal before scoring against Wigan on 29 January 2013.

In October 2014, Peter Crouch stated that he would like to remain at the Britannia Stadium with Stoke for the remainder of his career.

On 29 October 2014, Peter Crouch came on as a substitute in Stoke's League Cup defeat to Southampton; 15 minutes later, he was sent off for two yellow cards in the space of two minutes.

In total, Peter Crouch matched the previous season's goal tally of ten goals in 38 appearances as Stoke finished in ninth position for the second consecutive season.

Peter Crouch scored just twice, which came against lower league Fulham and Doncaster Rovers in cup competitions.

On 9 January 2017, Peter Crouch signed a new contract with Stoke in a deal lasting until the summer of 2018.

Peter Crouch scored four goals in five games at the turn of the year including his 100th Premier League goal, the oldest player to hit the landmark.

Peter Crouch became Stoke City's leading Premier League goalscorer of all time during the same season, reaching 45 goals and overtaking the 43 scored by Jonathan Walters.

Peter Crouch signed another one-year contract extension with the Potters in November 2017.

Peter Crouch was released at the end of the season and announced his retirement from professional football on 12 July 2019 at the age of 38.

Peter Crouch was capped for the England under-20 team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, with teammates including Stuart Taylor, Ashley Cole, Andrew Johnson and Matthew Etherington.

Peter Crouch was later a part of David Platt's England under-21 team, which went to the finals of the European Under-21 Championship in Switzerland in May 2002, where he scored st Switzerland.

In May 2006, Peter Crouch was included in the 23-man England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and was expected to be a significant figure in the team due to Wayne Rooney's foot injury.

Peter Crouch followed his goal with his iconic robotic dancing goal celebration.

The goal provoked some controversy as replays showed Peter Crouch to be pulling on Brent Sancho's long hair, holding the defender down, to gain an advantage.

Peter Crouch was rested for England's third group match against Sweden as Rooney returned from injury to join the starting line-up.

However, Owen suffered a serious knee injury in the opening minute of the match and Peter Crouch replaced him, playing the remainder of the match.

Peter Crouch remained a part of the England set-up under Eriksson's successor as manager, Steve McClaren, and started McClaren's first match in charge, a friendly against Greece in August 2006.

Contemporary reports suggested that Peter Crouch was the first player ever to reach ten goals for England within a single calendar year.

Peter Crouch returned to the England squad for their matches against Brazil and Estonia in late May and early June 2007, scoring in the qualifying match against the latter.

Peter Crouch was England's top scorer in the qualifying campaign with five goals, but this did not prevent England finishing only third in their group and failing to progress to the finals of the competition.

On 1 April 2009, Peter Crouch made his first start under McClaren's successor, Fabio Capello, in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.

Peter Crouch was re-called to the England squad for the friendly against Slovenia and the World Cup qualifier versus Croatia, following his fine form for Tottenham.

Peter Crouch got an early first half goal against Belarus in the final 2010 World Cup qualifier, which he then followed up with a second goal in the 76th minute.

Peter Crouch scored a brace after coming on as a substitute against Egypt in a friendly on 3 March 2010 to take his overall international goal tally to 20.

Peter Crouch scored the second goal for England against Mexico at Wembley Stadium on 24 May 2010.

Peter Crouch was named in Capello's final 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup and was given the number 9 shirt.

Peter Crouch came on as a substitute for Emile Heskey in England's opening match against the United States and came off the bench for Gareth Barry in the following match against Algeria.

Peter Crouch came on as a substitute in the home friendly against France for the injured Steven Gerrard on 17 November 2010.

Peter Crouch was not part of the England squad for UEFA Euro 2012.

However, Peter Crouch afterwards said that this was not the case and that he would "never" not want to play for England.

Peter Crouch usually played as a target man in a centre-forward role throughout his career, or as a striker, due to his ability to hold up the ball with his back to goal and link-up with his teammates.

Peter Crouch was known for his longevity, and had a penchant for scoring acrobatic goals from bicycle kicks.

Peter Crouch has attributed his success as a footballer to his own hard work and determination.

Peter Crouch has been referred to as "Mr Roboto" by Univision's commentators and as "Pantera Rosa" by Fox Sports en Espanol commentators.

On 6 August 2007, Peter Crouch said he would never use the robot dance again unless he scored in the UEFA Champions League Final, but he partially reprised it on 1 April 2009 after scoring during England's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine after a Comic Relief sketch.

On 1 February 2017, Peter Crouch gave the dance a final outing to celebrate his 100th Premier League goal.

On 16 October 2012, Peter Crouch was disqualified from driving for six months.

Peter Crouch has a GNVQ in Leisure and Tourism, which he obtained as part of a mandatory educational programme while at Tottenham Hotspur.