Former Spurs, Liverpool and England Striker Peter Crouch has announced his retirement.
Crouch is one of those rare players in the modern age who seems capable of being almost universally liked regardless of club loyalties. Never a man to take himself too seriously he was a refreshing antidote to the modern football who is defined by their hair cut, tattoos and the car they drive.
However, it would be remiss to think of Peter Crouch as just a fun loving figure because he also had a very successful career spanning over 20 years at multiple high-profile clubs. The 6ft 7in forward also won 42 caps for his country scoring 22 times in the process.
It all started for Crouchy at my beloved Tottenham where he signed his first professional contract in 1998 having come through the youth set up at White Hart Lane. Looking for more first-team football, Crouch eventually left Spurs in 2000 joining QPR and then Portsmouth and scoring plenty of goals in the 1st Division (now the Championship). Spells at Aston Villa, Southampton, Liverpool and then again at Pompey followed before Crouch found himself back in North London.
While Crouch was never prolific for Spurs he did strike up some excellent on pitch relationships with the likes of Jermaine Defoe and Rafael Van De Vart often using his height as well as his underrated first touch to get the best out of those around him.
My top memories of Crouchy include
The winner v Man City in 2010 that saw us qualify for the Champions League at the expense of Citeh
Crouch also scored the only goal in a bad-tempered tie against AC Milan in the Champions League campaign that followed. Until our run to the final last season this had been Spurs best performance in Europe's premier competition
The best answer to an inane interview question ever
Peter Crouch already has his own podcast and you get the feeling that a long and successful career in the media awaits him.
Here's to you Crouchy, one of the good guys ......