Peter Crouch has announced his retirement from football at the age of 38 having represented England, Liverpool, Tottenham and many other clubs across a distinguished career.
Most known for his height – measuring at 6ft 7in tall – Crouch spent much of his playing days in the Premier League and featured for his country at two World Cups, in 2006 and 2010.
A gangly centre-forward, Crouch was rarely celebrated for his technical abilities but still managed to have a strong impact for several big clubs in England s top flight.
But having long balls hopefully pumped up to him has ultimately taken its toll, as he revealed that scenario to be a contributing factor in his final decision to draw things to a close.
In his Daily Mail column, Crouch wrote: I have had 23 years to prepare for this moment but, now it is here, you realise nothing can prepare you at all. The time has come refer to myself as a former footballer this incredible journey I have been on since I was 16 is over.
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Wishing you all the best in retirement, ! Congratulations on a fantastic career
— England (@England)
My ambition was to play until I was 40, so it is scary saying the word retirement . To go from being a regular starter to someone whose role is limited to 10 or 15 minutes off the bench has been hard to accept.
I will be 39 in January, but I am physically fit and could have carried on. What I didn t want to be was someone who was thrown on to have balls smashed up to them.
Crouch signed his first professional contract in 1998 when a youngster at Tottenham and, although he left two years later before making his debut, he returned in 2009.
During his first Spurs spell, Crouch was loaned out to Non-League Dulwich Hamlet and Swedish minnows Hassleholm – and he acknowledges, he has come a long way since then.
Let s be honest – you would not have taken odds on me making it then, he added. If you had told me at that point I would go on to play for England 42 times and score 22 goals, play for Liverpool in a Champions League and FA Cup final and score the goal that put Tottenham back in the European Cup for the first time in four decades, I would have had you locked up.
Wishing you a happy retirement, .
Thanks for the memories!
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)
Crouch left Spurs the first time around for QPR, before then going on to join Portsmouth and Aston Villa, from whom he was loaned to Norwich City.
A move to Southampton followed in 2004-05, scoring 12 Premier League goals and earning a switch to Liverpool, where he stayed for three years before moving back to both Portsmouth and Spurs.
Seven-and-a-half years at Stoke took Crouch into the twilight of his career and he closed things out at Burnley – the perfect club to bring things to an end.
Burnley, really, was the ideal place to finish, he wrote. I didn t make the biggest impact after I went there in January, but I was so glad I went.
Sean Dyche is a top manager and the boys are quality. They have a fantastic set up and I loved going in every day. They are a great club.
