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{{Football player infobox| playername= Peter Crouch
| fullname = Peter James Crouch
| image = [[Image:Peter_Crouch.jpg|250px]]
| nickname = Crouchy, Crouchinho, Rodders, <br>Two-Metre Peter
| dateofbirth = [[January 30]], [[1981]]
| cityofbirth = [[Macclesfield]]
| countryofbirth = [[England]]
| height = 6'7" (201 cm)
| currentclub = [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
| clubnumber = 15
| position = [[Football (soccer) positions#Centre forward|Centre Forward]]
| youthyears = <br>1998–2000
| youthclubs = [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|QPR]]<br>[[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]
| years = <br>2000–2001<br>2001–2002<br>2002–2004<br>2002–2003<br>2004–2005<br>2005–present
| clubs = [[IFK Hässleholm]] Loan<br>[[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|QPR]]<br>[[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth ]]<br>[[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]]<br>[[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] Loan<br>[[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]]<br>Liverpool
| caps(goals) = <br> 42 (10)<br>37 (18)<br>37 (6)<br>15 (4)<br>27 (12)<br>32 (8)
| nationalyears = 2005–present
| nationalteam = [[England national football team|England]]
| nationalcaps(goals) = 8 (5)
| pcupdate = [[9 June]] [[2006]]
| ntupdate = [[10 June]] [[2006]]
}}
'''Peter James Crouch''' (born [[January 30]] [[1981]] in [[Macclesfield]], [[Cheshire]]) is an [[England|English]] international [[football (soccer)|football]] player, known simply as "Crouchy" to many fans. He currently plays for the English club [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] as a [[striker]]. His height of 201 cm makes him the tallest man ever to play for both Liverpool and the [[England national football team|England national team]]. Crouch is also known for his [[Robot (dance)|robotic dancing]] [[goal celebration]], performed after scoring for England in the pre-[[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] friendly matches in the summer of 2006. In wake of his robotic dancing, ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper described Crouch as "fast building a reputation as a [[cult following|cult hero]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1789854,00.html|publisher=[[The Guardian]]|title=Crouch plays his way into starting line-up|date=[[2006-06-03]]|accessdate=2006-06-04}}</ref>
==Club career==
Although born in [[Macclesfield]], Crouch's family soon moved south to [[London]]. When Crouch was four, the family moved again, this time to [[Singapore]], although they stayed there for only a year before returning to London. A keen footballer from an early age, he became a fan of [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]], and also became a [[ballboy]] at the age of ten.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17173591&method=full&siteid=62484&headline=my-pete-s-no-freak-name_page.html|publisher=[[Sunday Mirror]]|first=Michael|last=Duffy|title=My Pete's No Freak|date=[[2006-06-04]]|accessdate=2006-06-04}}</ref>
After attending Drayton Manor High School in [[Ealing]], Crouch failed to win a contract at [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham]] despite having played for their youth side. He began his professional football career — following a spell on loan at [[Dulwich Hamlet F.C.|Dulwich Hamlet]] in the [[Isthmian League]] — with [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|QPR]] and made an immediate impression at their [[Loftus Road]] ground. He scored ten league goals for QPR in the 2000–01 season, but unfortunately, it was not enough to prevent the team's relegation to [[Football League Second Division|Division 2]] (now [[Football League One]]).
Relegation meant that QPR had to sell many of their best players to support their diminished finances, and [[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth]] bought Crouch from them for £1.5 million. Crouch scored 18 league goals in only 37 starts for Portsmouth — benifitting from the crossing of [[Robert Prosinečki]] — and that in a side that for much of the season looked destined to be in a relegation battle.
In March 2002, [[FA Premier League]] side [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] made a successful bid of £5 million for Crouch. He scored on his home debut for Villa, the equalising goal against [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]], and would net twice in seven games. However, Crouch failed to hold down a regular place in the Aston Villa side in the following [[2002-03 in English football|2002–03]] season.
Looking for first team football, he was loaned to [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] from September to December [[2003]]. Although he scored only four times in 15 appearances, he was highly impressive and remains to this day popular with Norwich City supporters.{{fact}} However, he was also sent off for retaliation during Norwich's 3–1 win at Walsall. His spell at Norwich helped to get Crouch's career moving, for at the end of the three-month loan he returned to Aston Villa, and scored a [[brace (grouping)|brace]] against [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]], a late winner at [[Middlesbrough F.C.|Middlesbrough]] and the opener at [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton]]. Norwich City recognised his contribution to the 2003-04 season that saw them win the [[Football League First Division|First Division Championship]] by awarding him a championship medal. He was presented with the medal on the pitch prior to City's match against his new club [[Southampton FC]] at [[Carrow Road]] in November 2004. When he came on as substitute for Southampton later that afternoon, he received a very good reception from the home crowd.
Villa sold the striker in July [[2004]], selling him to [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]] for £2 million. Crouch, who signed a four-year deal at the club, had scored just six goals in 37 [[FA Premier League|Premiership]] games for Aston Villa. He made his Southampton debut in a 2–0 defeat at his previous club, Villa, and later scored a controversial winning [[penalty kick|penalty]] against former club, Portsmouth, on [[January 29]] [[2005]] in the fourth round of the [[FA Cup]].
Despite scoring 16 goals in 33 appearances during the [[2004-05 in English football|2004-05]] season, his future was cast into doubt when [[Southampton F.C.|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.
Crouch underwent intense media scrutiny due to a goal drought during his first months at Liverpool. For 19 games, spanning four months, he was unable to score. 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 Crouch possessed "good touch for a big man" in fact became something of a media [[cliche]] during this time.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1588933,00.html|publisher=[[The Guardian]]|first=Barry|last=Glendenning|title=The Crouch-a-saurus|date=[[2005-10-10]]|accessdate=2006-06-04}}</ref>
The drought finally ended on [[3 December]] [[2005]] when he scored against [[Wigan Athletic F.C.|Wigan Athletic]]. Although this first goal was originally given as an [[own goal]], it was later awarded to Crouch on appeal; he went on to score a second goal in the same game. Prior to these goals, Crouch had played over 24 hours of football for Liverpool without scoring. In addition to this, he also had to deal with unpleasant taunts from crowds at matches, as he had throughout his footballing career, who often chanted "freak" at him due to his unusual height.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1782536,00.html|publisher=[[The Guardian]]|first=Daniel|last=Taylor|title=Crouch rises above the jibes to feel at home among the elite|date=[[2006-05-25]]|accessdate=2006-06-04}}</ref>
During Liverpool's trip to Japan for the [[FIFA Club World Championship 2005|Club World Championship]] in December 2005, Crouch added another two goals to his tally in the semi-final between Liverpool and [[Deportivo Saprissa]], with an impressive volley and a well-composed finish under pressure from a defender. On [[28 December]] [[2005]], his record for Liverpool stood at five goals, including three league goals, after a composed finish against Liverpool's derby rivals [[Everton F.C.|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 fifth round of the [[FA Cup]] (2005–06) against [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]], Liverpool's first victory over them in the FA Cup post-[[World War II]]. He also scored twice during Liverpool's 7–0 thrashing of Birmingham City on [[21 March]] [[2006]].
The current Liverpool manager, [[Rafael Benitez]], revealed that statistics show Crouch often covers more ground on the pitch in 90 minutes than midfielder [[Steven Gerrard]].{{fact}} On [[13 May]] he repaid this faith by helping his team win the 2006 FA Cup over [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham]], providing a crucial assist for [[Steven Gerrard]] to score the second Liverpool goal.
==International career==
Crouch was capped for the England Under-20 team at the 1999 [[FIFA World Youth Championship]], with team-mates including [[Stuart Taylor]], [[Ashley Cole]], [[Andy Johnson]] and [[Matthew Etherington]]. However, the team finished bottom at the group stage, with three losses and having scored no goals. He was later a part of [[David Platt]]'s [[England national under-21 football team|England Under-21 team]], which went to the European Under–21 Championships in [[Switzerland]] in May 2002, where he scored once.
In May [[2005]], he was handed his first call-up to the senior [[England national football team|England]] squad by manager [[Sven Goran Eriksson]] for the team's tour of the [[United States]], making his debut against [[Colombia national football team|Colombia]]. He went on to make two appearances during the {{Wc|2006}} [[Football World Cup 2006 (qualification UEFA)|qualifying campaign]] for England: starting against [[Austria national football team|Austria]] in a 1–0 victory and coming on as a substitute against [[Poland national football team|Poland]] in a 2–1 win. In the latter appearance, Crouch's introduction as a second-half substitute was booed by England's own supporters, although he went on to be instrumental in [[Frank Lampard|Frank Lampard's]] winner.
On [[1 March]] [[2006]] he scored his first England goal, the equaliser in a 2–1 friendly win over [[Uruguay national football team|Uruguay]]. He did this whilst bizarrely wearing two different [[squad number]]s on his shirt — #21 on the front (his designated squad number for the match), and the incorrect #12 on the back.
In May 2006, Crouch was included in the 23 man England squad for the {{wc|2006}}, and is expected to be a significant figure in the team due to [[Wayne Rooney]]'s foot injury. On the [[30th May]] [[2006]] he played in a pre-[[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] friendly against [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]], scoring the third goal in England's 3–1 win. He followed his goal with an unusual [[robot (dance)|robotic dancing]]-style [[goal celebration]], parodying his own questionable dancing skills which had been captured on a television programme covering the pre-World Cup party held at the home of [[David Beckham|David]] and [[Victoria Beckham]]. This was almost immediately dubbed "the Crouch" and later the "RoboKop" — the spelling due to the famous '[[Kop]]' stand at Liverpool's home ground, [[Anfield]] — and imitated in clubs across England.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=14566&in_page_id=7|publisher=[[Metro (Associated Metro Limited)|Metro]]|title='The Crouch' sweeps the nation|date=[[2006-06-01]]|accessdate=2006-06-01}}</ref> Two days after the match, Crouch repeated the dance at the request of [[Prince William]] during an England training session attended by the Prince.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5037854.stm|publisher=[[BBC News Online]]|title=William attends England training|date=[[2006-06-01]]|accessdate=2006-06-01}}</ref>
It was later claimed in ''[[Daily Mirror|The Daily Mirror]]'' newspaper that the dance was inspired by the lyrics "dancing to electro-pop, like a robot from 1984" from ''I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor'', a song by the British rock group [[Arctic Monkeys]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17164877&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=one-bets-one-looks-good-on-the-dancefloor--name_page.html|first=Martin|last=Lipton|coauthor=Paul Byrne|title=World Cup Willie|publisher=[[The Daily Mirror]]|date=[[2006-06-02]]|accessdate=2006-06-02}}</ref>
On [[3rd June]] he again played for England in a pre-[[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]] friendly against [[Jamaica national football team|Jamaica]], scoring a [[hat-trick]] and again celebrating the first two goals with his [[robot (dance)|robotic dancing]]. Between his second and third goals he took a [[penalty kick]] hoping to gain a hat-trick, but he put the ball over the bar. England went on to win 6–0, Crouch securing his hat-trick in the 89th minute with a fine finish — his fifth goal in three England games.
On Monday [[12 June]], he announced he would only perform his robotic dance again if England were to win the World Cup, saying "It's not about robotic dancing. It is about scoring goals and winning matches. It's an important time for everyone now."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/england/5072314.stm|title=Crouch halts robotic celebrations|publisher=BBC|date=[[2006-06-12]]|accessdate=2006-06-13}}</ref>
After his impressive displays in England's friendlies, Crouch partnered [[Michael Owen]] in attack for England's opening World Cup game against [[Paraguay national football team|Paraguay]] on [[June 10]] [[2006]] and despite leading the line well, Crouch did not score and picked up a [[yellow card]]. England did, however, go on to win the game 1-0 with an own goal by Paraguyan captain Carlos Gamarra from a David Beckham free kick.
== Trivia ==
During [[November]] and [[December]] [[2005]], Crouch was said to have polled a large number of votes for the annual [[BBC Sports Personality of the Year]] award, after an internet campaign was allegedly launched by opposition fans keen to embarrass him on live television by having him win the award despite, at the time, not having scored a single goal for Liverpool. It was then suggested that Crouch was lying in second place behind favourite [[Andrew Flintoff]] before he scored twice in Liverpool's 3–0 win over [[Wigan Athletic F.C.|Wigan]] at [[Anfield]] on [[3 December]] [[2005]].
== Statistics ==
{|border=1 align=center cellpadding=4 cellspacing=2 style="background: ivory; font-size: 95%; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; clear:center"
|+ '''<big> Club Performance</big>'''
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|[[FA Premier League|Premiership]]
!colspan="2"|[[FA Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[League Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[Europe]]
!colspan="2"|Others
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
|-
|rowspan="1" valign=top|[[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
|2005-06
|31||8||5||3||1||0||8||0||2||2||47||13
|-
|rowspan="1" valign=top|[[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]]
|2004-05
|27||12||5||4||1||0||0||0||0||0||33||16
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|[[The Football League|League]]
!colspan="2"|[[FA Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[League Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[Europe]]
!colspan="2"|Others
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
|-
|rowspan="1" valign=top|[[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] Loan
|2003-04
|15||4||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||15||4
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|[[FA Premier League|Premiership]]
!colspan="2"|[[FA Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[League Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[Europe]]
!colspan="2"|Others
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
|-
|rowspan="3" valign=top|[[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]]
|2003-04
|16||4||0||0||2||0||0||0||0||0||18||4
|-
|2002-03
|14||0||0||0||0||0||4||0||0||0||18||0
|-
|2001-02
|7||2||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||7||2
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="2"|[[The Football League|League]]
!colspan="2"|[[FA Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[League Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[Europe]]
!colspan="2"|Others
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
!App
!Goals
|-
|rowspan="1" valign=top|[[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth]]
|2001-02
|37||18||1||0||1||1||0||0||0||0||39||19
|-
|rowspan="1" valign=top|[[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]]
|2000-01
|42||10||3||2||2||0||0||0||0||0||47||12
|-
! align=left style="background:beige"|Total
! align=left style="background:beige" colspan="1" |
! align=left style="background:beige"| 189
! align=left style="background:beige"| 57
! align=left style="background:beige"| 14
! align=left style="background:beige"| 9
! align=left style="background:beige"| 7
! align=left style="background:beige"| 1
! align=left style="background:beige"| 12
! align=left style="background:beige"| 0
! align=left style="background:beige"| 2
! align=left style="background:beige"| 2
! align=left style="background:beige"| 224
! align=left style="background:beige"| 69
|-
|}
==Career Honours==
==={{flagicon|England}} Norwich City===
'''Winner'''
* 2003–04 [[Football League First Division]] (Level 2)
==={{flagicon|England}} Liverpool===
'''Winner'''
* 2005–06 [[FA Cup]]
'''Runner-up:'''
* 2005 [[FIFA Club World Championship]]
{{England Squad 2006 World Cup}}
{{Liverpool F.C. squad}}
==References and notes==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>
==External links==
* [http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/squad/crouch/ Official Liverpool profile]
* [http://www.dothecrouch.com/tees.html Peter Crouch Robot T Shirt]
* [http://www.dothecrouch.com/mobile.html Peter Crouch Ringtones]
[[Category:1981 births|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Aston Villa F.C. players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:England international footballers|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:English footballers|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:English Premiership players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Current English Premiership players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Liverpool F.C. players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Living people|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Natives of Cheshire|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Norwich City F.C. players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Portsmouth F.C. players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Queens Park Rangers F.C. players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Southampton F.C. players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[Category:FIFA World Cup 2006 players|Crouch, Peter]]
[[bg:Питър Крауч]]
[[de:Peter Crouch]]
[[et:Peter Crouch]]
[[es:Peter Crouch]]
[[fr:Peter Crouch]]
[[nl:Peter Crouch]]
[[ja:ピーター・クラウチ]]
[[no:Peter Crouch]]
[[pl:Peter Crouch]]
[[fi:Peter Crouch]]
[[sv:Peter Crouch]]
[[zh:彼得·克劳奇]]
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