Crouchy’s life-changing games

“I PLAYED FOR GRAHAM TAYLOR AT VILLA AND I OWE HIM A LOT BECAUSE HE HAD BELIEF IN ME, EVEN BEFORE I HAD IT MYSELF”

QPR 2 Gillingham 2 September 13, 2000 First Division

“I came off the bench for one of my first games as a professional, and scored my first goal, too. I needed to hit the ground running – I wanted to change people’s perception of me, because of the way I looked. I can remember hearing a few groans, like: ‘Why are we bringing him on?’ We were 2-0 down, but I scored and then set up the equaliser. That was the game that made me think, ‘OK, I can do this: I can be a professional footballer’.”

Aston Villa 1 Newcastle 1

April 2, 2002 Premier League

“Scoring my first Premier League goal, on my home debut for Villa, was a great feeling, and I owe Graham Taylor a lot. I saw him later when I was playing for Liverpool and he told me, ‘I always knew you’d play for England.’ He had belief in me, even before I had the belief myself.”

Liverpool 4 Arsenal 1

March 31, 2007 Premier League

“I scored a hat-trick for England against Jamaica, but this one is my only perfect hat-trick: right foot, header, left foot. The header was one of the best I scored in the Premier League, and the third was one of my favourite goals: take it on the chest, a little Cruyff turn, left-foot finish. Completing the hat-trick at the Kop end was amazing. I was scoring for England at that time, too. I felt like I was on fire.”

Milan 0 Tottenham 1

February 15, 2011 Champions League

“Scoring at Manchester City to get us into the Champions League was great – I’ve never seen an away end like that in my life – but getting the winner at the San Siro in the Champions League was even better. I used to love watching Italian football – Gazzetta with James Richardson on a Saturday morning – so the San Siro is my favourite stadium.”