100 GREATEST PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS EVER! 1992-2021 JAMIE VARDY • PETER SCHMEICHEL • JURGEN KLINSMANN • NICOLAS ANELKA • ERIC CANTONA • STEVEN GERRARD • FRANK LAMPARD • DENNIS BERGKAMP • VINCENT KOMPANY
100 PETER CROUCH
ASTON VILLA, SOUTHAMPTON, LIVERPOOL, PORTSMOUTH, TOTTENHAM, STOKE, BURNLEY
LEGACY Crouch might be best known for his lofty stature, robotic dance moves and good-natured podcast patter – but real fans know there was so much more to his game.
The Spurs academy graduate cut his teeth in Sweden and the second tier before finally getting his top-flight chance with Aston Villa in 2001. Graham Taylor fancied him; David O’Leary didn’t.
It wasn’t until Crouch was flogged to Southampton in 2004 that his Premier League career got going. He netted only three goals before Christmas, but Harry Redknapp’s arrival – and James Beattie’s January sale – paved the way for nine goals in the new year. They couldn’t keep the Saints up, but did earn Crouch his first England call-up and a shock transfer to Liverpool in 2005.
CROUCH IS ONE OF THE FEW PLAYERS WHO IS UNIVERSALLY ADMIRED BY ANY TEAM’S FANS
He promptly went 18 matches without a goal. “I really wanted to head back to Southampton as fast as possible,” he told FFT in 2018. “I was thinking, ‘What have I done?’” Finally, he broke his Reds duck with a wildly deflected effort that somehow lobbed Wigan keeper Mike Pollitt – the first of a brace that afternoon.
They accounted for two of 108 Premier League goals, of which a record 53 were headers. At each of his clubs, team-mates appreciated Crouch’s all-round forward play, but the simple knowledge that hopeful crosses into the box were never futile certainly did no harm. There was more than that, of course: just rewatch that outrageous effort for Stoke against Manchester City in March 2012.
In July 2008, Crouch was reunited with Redknapp at Portsmouth in an £11 million move, then again at Spurs for £10m one year later. ’Arry made the targetman one of his first signings after landing the job in north London. The striker was often used as an impact substitute, but achieved cult status at White Hart Lane by netting the goal against Manchester City which effectively secured Spurs’ spot in the Champions League/European Cup for the first time since 1962.
Crouch’s languid playing style allowed him to extend his career until the ripe old age of 38. At Stoke, and later Burnley, the unmistakable sight of him warming up continued to perk up hopeful crowds until as late as 2019.
As one of just 29 players to have struck a century of Premier League goals, Crouch’s place in history is assured. He is among even more exclusive company in one regard – a player universally admired by
