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PETER CROUCH (15)
After failing to win a contract at Tottenham, he began his professional football career with QPR and made an immediate impression at Loftus Road, weighing in with a number of crucial strikes. He netted ten League goals for QPR in the 2000/01 season. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to prevent relegation to Division 2 (now Football League One). Relegation meant that QPR had to cash in on their best players and Portsmouth swooped to sign the talented youngster for £1.5 million. Crouch was ordinary at Fratton Park but still managed to expose defenders of ordinary ability. Netting 18 League goals in only 37 starts, and that in a side that for much of the season looked destined to be in a relegation battle, was enough to have the big clubs watching. He also earned a call up to the England U21 side. In March 2002, FA Premier League side Aston Villa made a successful bid of £5 million. Crouch scored on his home debut, the equalising goal against Newcastle United, and would net twice in seven games. Crouch was also part of David Platt's England U21 side that went to the European Under-21 Championships in Switzerland in May 2002. However, Crouch failed to hold down a regular place in the Aston Villa side in the following 2002/03 season. Looking for first team football, he was loaned to Norwich City from September - December 2003. Although he only scored four times in 15 appearances, he was highly impressive. At the end of the three-month loan, he returned to Villa Park with renewed confidence - and would go on to score a brace against Leicester City, a late winner at Middlesbrough and the opener at Bolton. Despite this, Villa cashed in the striker in July 2004, selling him to Southampton for £2million. Crouch, who signed a four-year deal at St Mary's, had scored just six goals in 37 Premiership games for Aston Villa. He made his Saints' debut in a 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa. He scored a controversial winning penalty against Portsmouth on January 29, 2005 in the fourth round of the FA Cup. In May 2005, he was handed his first call-up to the England squad by Sven Goran Eriksson for the team's tour of the United States, making his debut against Colombia. Despite scoring 16 goals in 24 appearances during the 2004/2005 season, his future was cast into doubt when his club, Southampton, were relegated from the English Premiership. On July 19, 2005, Southampton agreed to sell Crouch for £7 million to Liverpool, on a four year contract. He is Liverpool's tallest ever player. He went on to make a further two appearances during the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign for England: starting against Austria in a 1-0 victory and coming on as a substitute against Poland in a 2-1 victory. In the latter appearance, Crouch's introduction as a second-half substitute was roundly booed by England's own supporters. Crouch underwent intense media scrutiny for an unfortunate and uncharacteristic goal drought which he embarked on upon arriving at Liverpool. For 19 games, spanning 4 months, the £7m England striker was unable to get the ball into the opposition goal. Crouch was praised for other facets of his game, most notably that of having a very good touch for such a big man, but that elusive first goal evaded him. The drought was finally ended on December 3, 2005 when he scored against Wigan Athletic. Although this first goal was originally cited as an own goal, it was later awarded to Crouch on appeal; he went on to score a second goal in the same game, which without doubt broke his Liverpool duck. Prior to these goals, Crouch had played over 24 hours (87,540 seconds) of football without scoring. During Liverpool's trip to Japan for the Club World Championship in December 2005, Peter added another two goals to his tally in the semifinal between Liverpool and Deportivo Saprissa, with an impressive volley and a well-composed finish under pressure from a defender. He has expanded his goal account recently after scoring against Newcastle. On 28 December 2005, his record for Liverpool stood at 5 goals, including 3 league goals, after a composed finish against Liverpool's derby rivals Everton. He added yet another goal to his tally on the last day of 2005 with a superb header which gave the West Bromwich keeper Tomasz Kuszczak no chance. He also scored the only goal in the 5th round of the FA cup (2005/6), against Manchester united. Liverpool's first victory over them in the FA cup post-war. On March 1, 2006 he scored his first England goal, the equaliser in the 2-1 friendly win over Uruguay. He did this whilst bizarrely wearing two different squad numbers on his shirt - #21 on the front (his designated squad number for the match), and the incorrect #12 on the back. Honours Norwich City Statistics
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Last updated: March 9, 2006 |
Peter Crouch, (born January 30, 1981 in Macclesfield, Cheshire), is an English international football player renowned for his height (6' 7"/2.01 m), known simply as "Crouchy" to many fans. He currently plays for English club Liverpool as a striker.
Brentford 0-2 LFC
Premier League
Sat 18th Jan - 3:00 pm
Premier League
Sat 18th Jan - 3:00 pm
| Pos | Team | Pl | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 21 | 30 | 50 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 21 | 22 | 43 |
| 3 | Forest | 21 | 10 | 41 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 22 | 12 | 38 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 21 | 15 | 37 |
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