“I bought the very first issue with Terry Venables on the cover – FourFourTwo was my magazine,” Peter Crouch tells us, accompanied by a grin. We weren’t fishing for compliments, either. Promise.
“I kept that, top magazine, with El Tel! In the early days, I had all of them – they were iconic… anyway, where were we?”
Crouch was just 13 back then. A wide-eyed teenager from the watercolour sprawl of suburban Greater London, he lived and breathed the game. But unlike some, he was never destined to find his name printed on our pages. Over the years, we’ve spoken to all sorts of players at the top level – but few have been quite like Crouchy.
“I just wanted to be a footballer at any level,” admits Crouch. “With Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard, you knew they’d go to the very top. I knew I had something, but I didn’t know what level I was.
“I remember going to England Under-16s with Ledley King. We were late – and the manager was just talking to Ledley while I was stood there. ‘You will play for England, you can’t be late,’ he said to Ledley, before turning around to me. ‘You might…’” Crouch laughs at the memory now, acting out the conversation, stressing the word ‘might’ with the same lack of faith as he received it. “I was just Ledley’s mate leading him astray. I knew I had enough ability but Ledley was unbelievable. I probably ended up with more England caps, though.” Twice as many, in fact: 42 to King’s 21.
Denne historien er fra Season Preview 2023-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
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Denne historien er fra Season Preview 2023-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
NINE REASONS TO BE EXCITED FOR COPA AMERICA
Family feuds, Bielsa's return and an Icelandic dentist - it's all been going on ahead of South America's biggest tournament hosted by, er, the USA. Oh, and Messi's going to be there as well...
30 GREATEST PUNDITS EVER
FFT rates the finest opinion offerers in the history of UK television, via Del Boy, Space Jam and Donald Trump...
"TERRY VENABLES PUT HIS FAITH IN ME AT EURO 96 - I COULDN'T LET HIM DOWN"
Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Michel Platini have more goals at the Euros than Alan Shearer's seven - the forward hit five on home soil to secure the Golden Boot in 1996, and tells FFT why he found form at the perfect moment
HOW DID I FEEL AFTER SCORING NINE GOALS IN FIVE GAMES AT EURO 84? TIRED!
Forty years ago, Michel Platini's Euros-record tally propelled France to glory on home soil... and he wasn't even a forward. No player has ever had a finer European Championship - now, in his own words, he recalls it to FFT
WHY ENGLAND COULD TAKE THE HANDBRAKE OFF AT THE EUROS
Gareth Southgate has been labelled a cautious coach in recent major tournament near-misses - in Germany he might just be more adventurous, which brings risks but also potential reward
GEORGIA ON THEIR MIND
A Frenchman, an Englishman and a local genius walk into a Caucasus country to qualify for a first major tournament - is this a joke? Not for Georgia, who are dreaming big
SYIVINHO KING OF ALBANIA
The former Arsenal defender was an unexpected appointment last year, but he guided the Balkan nation to Euro 2024 - and now he tells FFT that he wants to spring another surprise...
CAPITAINE LEADER LEGENDE
Kylian Mbappe wrote his name into history at successive World Cups. Now France's captain and desperate to break his Euros goal drought, can he make it to the Berlin final and succeed where Zinedine Zidane failed 18 years ago?
JUDE AWAKENING
Three years ago, Jude Bellingham briefly became the European Championship's youngest ever player - now, after a superb debut season at Real Madrid, he's ready to make a greater impact
VIVA RONALDO
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal career was as good as over when he was dropped at the last World Cup - instead, CR7 goes to Euro 2024 as their main man once more, aged 39. Will this be the end, and can he make one last pitch to be considered the greatest?