Peter Crouch - Striker Date of Birth: January 30, 1981 Birthplace: Macclesfield Nationality: English Height: 1.98m / 6'6" Previous Clubs: Portsmouth, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Joined Villa: March 26, 2002 Acquisition Price: £6 million Debut: Bolton (a), March 30, 2002 Left Villa (for): July 9, 2004 (Southamton) Selling Price: £2 million

Peter Crouch is originally from the Queens Park Rangers youth academy but was picked up by Gerry Francis of Tottenham. Francis was later sacked and moved to Queens Park Rangers where he made a move for ... Peter Crouch. When QPR was relegated after the 2000/01 season, they had to sell Peter and Portsmouth was there to pick him up. He netted 18 times in 37 matches the following season, and that was enough for Graham Taylor. He secured Crouch's signature in March 2002.

To say that Crouch is elegant wouldn't be correct. His type is best described as "the gangly and skinny forward". However, with his impressive 1.98 m height, he wins a lot of air battles, but his skinny nature sometimes leaves Peter lacking the strength required in the Premier League, a thing Peter himself is the first to admit.

Crouch didn't feel he had a future at Aston Villa, however, and left for