“Never give up, and always believe you can achieve something.”
― Peter Crouch
“It’s nice when you can enjoy yourself and make people smile.”
― Peter Crouch
“I feel proud I was part of the old school and still around in the new school.”
― Peter Crouch
“I once bought an ill-advised half cashmere, half camel hair jumper for ã800, then ruined it by spilling a pint of Guinness all over it.”
― Peter Crouch
“I enjoy being different.”
― Peter Crouch
“I think it’s helped me that I’ve always been very grounded, very down to earth. Lots of my friends are people I’ve known from school, and when I’m away from football, they’re the ones who I knock about with.”
― Peter Crouch
“I once walked out of a nightclub with my team-mates to see our star midfielder reclining across the bonnet of a Ferrari, arms folded, waiting for girls to come out so he could wink at them and then progress it from there. I have no idea how long he’d been waiting. I do know it wasn’t even his Ferrari.”
― Peter Crouch
“In this age of social media, it is easy to punch out a phrase ‘thoughts are with the family’ when something bad occurs, and at times, it is insincere.”
― Peter Crouch
“The kit man is the heartbeat of the football club, really. He knows the lads. He’s usually local, a fan, and he’s got his finger on the pulse of the dressing room.”
― Peter Crouch
“Footballers are very superstitious.”
― Peter Crouch
“When some kids get a sniff of the first team at a big club, you see them change. They can become big-time, especially so if they happen to be captain of the youth team.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve always felt comfortable on the ball, and I don’t know why people are so surprised when you can control it well. It’s not a disability. It’s just that I’m a bit taller than everyone else.”
― Peter Crouch
“The Championship is a ferocious league, physically demanding, and it simply does not allow players the luxury of cruising through.”
― Peter Crouch
“Everyone that I have taken the mick out of, or told a story about, is someone I know properly or someone who has been a team-mate, and I know can take it. I am not stitching anyone up.”
― Peter Crouch
“I wouldn’t want to get my pigeon chest out in front of anyone. I don’t think the world needs it. I’d probably get a yellow card anyway.”
― Peter Crouch
“I don’t know why, but if I was walking down the street, the same people who called me freak would probably ask for a picture. It’s a real strange thing.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’m lucky: whatever I eat, I’ve never wavered from just under 14 stone.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ll have an omelette, porridge, and fruit for breakfast at the training ground, then chicken, pasta and soup for lunch; then I can relax in the evening.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’m 6ft 7in, so I have a massive bed.”
― Peter Crouch
“So many kids want to be football players, and to still feel like I’m living the dream at 37 is amazing.”
― Peter Crouch
“Ronaldo, the Brazilian one – incredible player. I met him once. I was in Ibiza on holiday and quite by chance ran into him in a club. He’s the only man I’d go up to and ask for a picture. And I did.”
― Peter Crouch
“I was a million miles from being a Premier League player. You see some people, at 18 they are ready. At 21, I wasn’t. Physically nowhere near.”
― Peter Crouch
“Right from school, I got mockery for the way I look. I took it to heart early on. I admit there were times when I doubted myself.”
― Peter Crouch
“I got booed by my own fans when I came on in my first game for England. You go through things that are ridiculous. But you get to the stage you realise everyone’s got an opinion.”
― Peter Crouch
“I didn’t think too much about people who didn’t believe in me. It hasn’t really affected me.”
― Peter Crouch
“I was always quite technical as a player, but when you are the size I am, if you are crap in the air, it is going to look bad.”
― Peter Crouch
“I am not the sort of character to get carried away.”
― Peter Crouch
“I have really got into watching the unsigned bands. They play mad venues like the Sugarmill in Stoke and all sorts of underground, grimy places.”
― Peter Crouch
“I made so many mistakes when I was younger.”
― Peter Crouch
“I used to pretend I was into speed garage when I hated it.”
― Peter Crouch
“The jokes about how I look have actually made me stronger.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve been promoted, relegated, won big trophies, gone months without scoring, played for my country at World Cups, been bought, sold, loaned, and called ‘a freak.’”
― Peter Crouch
“A little voice keeps telling me an Aston Martin really isn’t me, but a louder voice is telling me that, as an England international playing for Liverpool, the old rules no longer apply.”
― Peter Crouch
“You should never get ahead of yourself car-wise; no Merc when you’re still in the youth team, no Porsche unless you’re a Premier League regular.”
― Peter Crouch
“Because of how I looked, there was definitely a prejudice against me. People didn’t think I could play. I could see why: I weighed about eight stone and was six foot bleeding seven.”
― Peter Crouch
“Nothing can prepare you fully for how harsh football fans can be, but it makes you more robust, able to deal with a lot of what is thrown at you in life.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve always been the tallest; I didn’t shoot up. That’s who I am.”
― Peter Crouch
“If you’re different in any way at school,then you’re going to get a bit of abuse. You learn to deal with it in a way where people don’t come back at you again.”
― Peter Crouch
“I didn’t come from a council estate like a lot of the lads do.”
― Peter Crouch
“People tend to assume I was terribly self-conscious about my height. In fact, I’ve always been perfectly comfortable with the way I am. And if anyone gave me any stick, they soon found I was quite capable of giving it back.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’m very aware that you lead a very peculiar existence as a professional footballer, being flown everywhere first-class and never having to queue up for anything. Of course, that’s attractive, but if you’re not careful, you end up living in a world where nothing is really real.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve played for England; I’ve been lucky enough to do this for a long time. So why can’t you do it with a smile on your face?”
― Peter Crouch
“Even when I was at the top, playing in the Champions League final for Liverpool and playing at the World Cup for England, I’ve never let it go to my head.”
― Peter Crouch
“I know my strengths and weaknesses, and I play to them.”
― Peter Crouch
“If you go from being a kid at school to being on ã60,000 a week, that can be hard to deal with. I didn’t have that, and maybe that’s kept me a bit more grounded than some players.”
― Peter Crouch
“Looking around at the faces of the home support at Gillingham, the irony was never lost on me that these people had the cheek to call me a ‘freak.’ Perhaps they should have taken a look at themselves first.”
― Peter Crouch
“I really enjoy tennis, but football’s the game for me.”
― Peter Crouch
“I know I can play, but people who haven’t seen me and look at me on a football pitch think, ‘He’s tall, and he’s there to head the ball.’”
― Peter Crouch
“There’s no hiding place for someone of my size.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve been at Stoke for eight years… I think I’ve had the same towel for almost eight years.”
― Peter Crouch
“I had Fleetwood Mac on, and Saido Berahino asked me if it was from a movie soundtrack.”
― Peter Crouch
“One thing that annoys me in football is when people get carried away by results after four or five weeks of a new season.”
― Peter Crouch
“There is one thing you must know about Marko Arnautovic if you want to understand what makes him tick: he believes he’s the best player in the world.”
― Peter Crouch
“I don’t think I was ready for the Premier League until I was 24 at Southampton.”
― Peter Crouch
“Analysing games on the TV is something that appeals to me, and anything where you watch football and get paid for it is not a bad living!”
― Peter Crouch
“I can understand why people laugh and make jokes, but I’m comfortable with being this tall. It’s not as if I’ve had a sudden growth spurt. I’ve always been like this, so I get used to the constant height references.”
― Peter Crouch
“I can keep the ball and pass it, and I’ve always felt comfortable with the ball at my feet.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve never asked for a transfer anywhere, but I’ve been constantly moving around. It’s frustrating.”
― Peter Crouch
“Some people have never fancied me, but there have been plenty others who have backed me.”
― Peter Crouch
“Nothing ever stays the same for very long in my life.”
― Peter Crouch
“The lowest period was when I was with Tottenham, and they loaned me out to Dulwich Hamlet.”
― Peter Crouch
“Des Bulpin discovered me and, along with my dad, would be the biggest influence on my career. I remember him telling me when I was 15 that Jermain Defoe and I would play together for England when we were older, and he hasn’t been too far wrong.”
― Peter Crouch
“As for my personal ambitions, I always loved playing for England and always felt I did well.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’m not the type of player that’s going to run in behind or go past three and score.”
― Peter Crouch
“When I was a kid, the FA Cup was the one: it was bigger than the European Cup, even. So to win that, for me, and my dad as well – we used to watch it together – was brilliant.”
― Peter Crouch
“I do a fantastic job for a living: I get to play in front of 90,000, and obviously, everyone knows your name and what have you. But I’m no better than anyone else.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve always felt that, when I play, I have never let anybody down.”
― Peter Crouch
“I am very proud of my goal record for England.”
― Peter Crouch
“I don’t know why, but playing for England, I always feel I am going to score.”
― Peter Crouch
“Tiger Woods and Roger Federer: those two are born winners.”
― Peter Crouch
“I did a paper round as a kid, but the early mornings were too much. My dad took it over, so I was getting paid 15 quid a week, but he was doing it!”
― Peter Crouch
“Kevin Muscat scared me. You know, people would say ‘I’m going to break your legs’ – when he would say it, you genuinely believed him.”
― Peter Crouch
“If I played badly as a kid, my dad would tell me, and my mum would say, ‘You were brilliant today’. It’s nice to have both: when I need a bit of confidence, I’ll see her, and if I need to hear it straight, I’ll see my dad.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ll be walking down the street with a mate, and someone will stop and say ‘All right Crouchy, how’s things?’ and so on. Once they’re gone, the person I’m with will say ‘Do you know them?’ and I’ll say ‘I’ve never met them before in my life’. Happens all the time.”
― Peter Crouch
“There is one thing that I would really enjoy, and that is, of course, to get 100 Premier League goals.”
― Peter Crouch
“For whatever reason, I have got a few goals against Arsenal, so I do enjoy playing against them.”
― Peter Crouch
“Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to score volleys.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve got a good record, but maybe, for whatever reason, it’s not built up by people. I wouldn’t say I’m hard done by. But it’s true that I sometimes don’t get the praise.”
― Peter Crouch
“When I was young, I always enjoyed watching skilful players and trying to emulate them the same as everyone else.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’d hate to be the sort of player who people just regard as being tall and only good for winning headers.”
― Peter Crouch
“It’s difficult for anyone to regard a place in the England starting line-up as their own. There’s always someone looking to get ahead of you, and that’s how it should be.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve never been renowned for electric pace. It doesn’t seem to have held me back.”
― Peter Crouch
“I thrive on quick players getting to the byline and sending over crosses. I just have to be quick enough to get on the end of things. In that regard, my job has always been the same, but if we have more wide, quick players, that can only be good for me.”
― Peter Crouch
“At first, I was overwhelmed at moving up to international level, but the England lads are top class at making you feel welcome.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’d like to think I’m an approachable fella, and if someone wants me to pose for a picture, I’ll always say ‘yes’ even when I’m with my family.”
― Peter Crouch
“When I first started playing, the only time you knew you would get photographed was if the paparazzi were outside a smart restaurant in town.”
― Peter Crouch
“In my opinion, whenever I’ve been given the opportunity to play, I’ve done well and scored goals, and that will continue to be the case.”
― Peter Crouch
“During the Sir Alex Ferguson years, you would see all those great players – Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo, to name just a few – and you’d quickly realise why Old Trafford had an aura like nowhere else.”
― Peter Crouch
“The death of Cyrille Regis, a giant in so many ways, was such a shock and deeply upsetting.”
― Peter Crouch
“When I started out, nobody told you how to do an interview. That’s how I ended up on the front page of a newspaper dressed as Rodney Trotter with a Reliant Robin.”
― Peter Crouch
“I’ve always been surrounded by good people who rein me back in.”
― Peter Crouch
“I came from a good family and a nice area, but I went to a rough state school.”
― Peter Crouch
“Spending time in Sweden on loan was one of the best things I ever did.”
― Peter Crouch
“In my early years, I wanted to be like Paul Gascoigne.”
― Peter Crouch
“It was only when I got to Tottenham as a youth player that they said, ‘You need to be good in the air.’ It was made clear I was going be a target man, so I had to start working on my technique.”
― Peter Crouch
“The thing you don’t realise is that every time you head the ball, your brain shakes. Every single time. Have you ever headed a ball badly and seen stars for a couple of seconds? That’s your brain shaking. Let’s be honest: that can’t be healthy, can it?”
― Peter Crouch
“Heading is a skill, and it would be a shame to lose that from the game. There is nothing more dramatic than when you see someone score a diving header, for instance.”
― Peter Crouch
“Mark Hughes played until he was nearly 40 at a decent level, and I think I can do the same.”
― Peter Crouch
“There shouldn’t be a stigma about age with footballers.”
― Peter Crouch
“If you’re good enough, you’re old enough: that’s what everyone says. When a talented young player emerges, his age doesn’t matter; people want to see him in the team. So why, when you become older, is the assumption that you are no longer good enough?”
― Peter Crouch
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