During his three years on Merseyside, Peter Crouch established himself as a Liverpool hero.
His 42 goals for the Reds during that time helped contribute towards an FA Cup triumph in 2006 under Rafa Benitez, but the depth of feeling among supporters at Anfield goes beyond his achievements on the pitch.
The likable and affable former England frontman is just as revered for his down-to-earth nature and having left Liverpool in 2008, Crouch went on to have further goal-laden spells with the likes of Portsmouth, Tottenham and Stoke City before retiring in 2019 after a short stint with Burnley.
In total, Crouch turned out for as many as 13 clubs, including three on loan, but it was his time at Anfield, as well as his exploits with England, that made him a household name across the country.
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As part of the roll-out for his brand new Amazon documentary, 'That Peter Crouch Film', which is available this week, the ECHO's Paul Gorst sat down with Crouch at Anfield to talk through his playing days with the Reds. You can read part one of the chat here.
Your first Merseyside derby came in December 2005, you scored in a 3-1 win at Goodison Park. What was it like playing in a game that is so intense? Obviously it's a local rivalry...
"I met up with Steven Gerrard today and we were discussing that because I always remember Stevie saying to me on the bus: 'If you score in this one, the fans will always remember it.' And it was the same with the Manchester United game in the FA Cup. Obviously getting the goal, I just went to that conversation with Stevie and I just started running towards the fans. And that was a great moment for me, scoring in a Merseyside derby and scoring in a United game. Little things like that, you'll always have.
Some of the strikers at the club during your time were all very different. Looking at Fernando Torres, Fernando Morientes, Djibril Cisse, Robbie Fowler...All very different. It seemed like Rafa Benitez liked a very different profile with some of his strikers and you were the sort of target-man if you like?
"Yeah definitely. I think the reason he signed me was that I offered something very different to the strikers he already had there. Milan Baros was another one, Cisse, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and I think he wanted to change it up and have that different option, if you like. That is when I was signed, told to come in and I will always be thankful to Rafa for giving me the chance to come into this great club."
Rafa was known as a studious, elite tactician but what did he ask of you? Was it anything different that you hadn't had before?
"When I wasn't scoring he was still happy because the team was doing well but I felt like I had to become more selfish to get goals. So I had that to my game and I had to go against what he wanted at times. I had to get myself in the box 10 out of 10 times and ask for crosses when a lot of my good work outside of the box was for other people, if you know what I mean?
"Rafa asked me to do certain roles and there was a time, I remember away at Watford once, it was almost on the left of the three and I remember thinking: 'Nah I'm not sure how this is going to work! (laughs)'. But I understood his thinking. He just saw a weakness between the centre-backs and full-backs, aerially, so he could play direct balls into me in the channel and I'd be able to hold it in that channel rather than centrally.
"So I understood his thinking completely but defensively I was struggling. I was not tracking back in the way a Mo Salah or a Sadio Mane would! I'm not that type of player at all, so there were roles that Rafa asked me to do that I didn't agree with but sometimes you had to do them for the team and Rafa was one of the best tactical managers, so he had us well drilled in everything we tried to do."
The end of your first season, you go on and win the FA Cup (in 2006) on penalties against West Ham. You were two goals down, Steven Gerrard's equalisers, it was a crazy, crazy game. What are your memories of that day?
"It was a hugely special day in my career. Me and my dad grew up on the FA Cup, sort of watching the whole day, it was booked out in front of the TV and we didn't live too far from Wembley, so you could feel the whole buzz of the FA Cup final day.
"So when I am standing there with the FA Cup - and unfortunately it was at Cardiff and not Wembley - but when I was looking up at my dad, that was probably when I got most emotional at a match. I just remember all the days we had watching the FA Cup and now all of a sudden I've got this famous trophy in my hands, I remember seeing my dad almost getting a bit emotional himself, so that was a special day and something I'll never forget. I did mention that to Stevie actually, I thank him every day for those couple of goals!"
You knocked it down to him! (to make it 2-2)
"I did knock one down to him, yeah! I also scored a couple in the lead up to the final too."
Yeah, against Birmingham and Manchester United...You mention about the feeling of winning of the FA Cup, did it kind of add to it given the squad camaraderie at the time? Obviously the likes of yourself, Gerrard, Carragher, Hamann; seemed like a tight-knit group
"Yeah it was [a close group]. Usually you might class the English lads as being together and the Spanish lads being together but it wasn't like that at all. Especially the Spanish lads like Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia, Fernando Torres when he came, Morientes, they were really good lads as well.
"Sami Hyypia is an institution here and Didi Hamann, as we know, is a Scouse German, so it was a good group and we enjoyed spending time together. Robbie Fowler when he came back as well, so it was a really good group and there was no-one that you didn't really get on with, so when we won together, we enjoyed it together as well, which was great."
Another final you were involved in was the Champions League final in 2007 (against AC Milan). It's the biggest game in club football, isn't it? What was the build up to that the week-of because it must be a strange thing for a player knowing this is what you've worked towards your whole career?
"I always remember the game here [at Anfield] against Chelsea [in the semi-final], they were unbelievable and that was a serious team under Jose Mourinho. Drogba, Duff, Ballack, Essien, Lampard, Terry, it was such a difficult team. And they were probably favourites for the game obviously going 1-0 down at Stamford Bridge (in the first leg).
"But getting them back here for the second leg, I mean the atmosphere was...I mean it was like nothing I'd ever seen before a game. Half an hour before the game it was electric in here and we noticed all the flares and the signing in the lead up on the bus and it felt like more than just a game.
"Danny Agger scored just here from a cut-back (points to the position on the pitch) and then I remember I came off and Dirk Kuyt scored the winning penalty. And that adrenaline, that buzz of realising you've made a Champions League final, I can't even describe it. It feels like a real blur.
"And then obviously the lead-up to the final, we went away and you realise how big the game is. I just wanted it all out of the way really, in all honesty, because it was getting built up so much."
And then later that summer (of 2007) the club bought Fernando Torres, it seemed like Rafa never really trusted the two of you together up front. It was always you starting and he was on the bench or vice versa.
"Yeah, it was a frustrating one, that. I was slightly frustrated by it. Stevie playing just off Fernando was a great partnership but it came after [I'd left] and I remember playing in one game together, away at Reading, and I think Fernando scored a hat-trick that day and we combined really well. I do wish we had more chances together because I knew leaving Liverpool was a difficult thing to do and that was something I felt I had to do really."
Was it just for more game-time?
"Yeah, it was for more game time. I knew that Fernando would always be getting the game time and if you're going to play the one up front then it would always be him. So I was pragmatic and I knew that but obviously a bit later, Fernando leaves to join Chelsea, it just felt like a bit of a regret maybe in my career it's that maybe I didn't hang around here longer but then I went and had some great times at Tottenham and then Portsmouth, so I don't want to rewind too much. But it's one thing I do wonder: 'what if?'"
Just finally then, you scored 47 times for Liverpool while you were here. If you had to pick out one favourite goal...
"One goal? I think against Galatasaray in the Champions League at the Kop end. Just because it was Champions League, it was the Kop, the manner of the goal (scissor kick). That or the third, the hat-trick, at the Kop end, against Arsenal. And the United header, just for the buzz of that one too."
So there's a few then!
"There's a few! (laughs). They were all at Anfield!"
