He failed to make an appearance for Spurs and after loan spells at Dulwich Hamlet and Swedish club IFK Hässleholm he joined Queens Park Rangers.

He had a relatively poor spell at Villa, however, and was loaned out to Norwich City in 2003 before making a move to Southampton, where he regained his form, which would ultimately prompt his joining Liverpool in July 2005.

After scoring 42 goals in three seasons at Anfield, Portsmouth re-acquired Crouch for £11 million, where he forged an effective partnership with fellow England international Jermain Defoe.

[5] The Crouch family spent three years living in Southeast Asia, and moved back to England after Bruce rejected the chance to work in Australia.

He was then invited to join the Brentford Centre of Excellence in 1991 and he also played for the boys club West Middlesex Colts whilst attending Drayton Manor High School.

[5] He did not stay at QPR for long, however, for in November 1994, the coaching staff at Loftus Road moved to Tottenham Hotspur, including its youth team manager Des Bulpin, who offered Crouch a contract at Spurs.

[9] However, he did not make any appearances for their first team and was loaned out to other clubs, having brief spells at Dulwich Hamlet in the Isthmian League Premier Division and, in the summer of 2000, IFK Hässleholm in Sweden, where he played in the country's third tier.

[10] His move to Sweden came about when IFK Hässleholm sold Jon Jönsson to Tottenham for £70,000 and also agreed two loan deals for the Swedish club, that of Crouch and Alton Thelwell.

[21] At the end of the three-month loan, he returned to Aston Villa, and scored a brace against Leicester City, a late winner at Middlesbrough and the opener at Bolton Wanderers.

[42] At the start of the 2007–08 season, he had restricted opportunities to play for Liverpool due to the arrival of other strikers, including Fernando Torres, but nonetheless scored against Toulouse in a Champions League qualifying win in August, his eighth goal in his past ten appearances in that competition,[43] and then also scoring the first and last goals of an 8–0 win over Beşiktaş in the first round of the Champions League in November.

[44] On 19 December, Crouch was sent off in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, receiving a straight red card for a foul on Chelsea's Mikel John Obi as Liverpool exited the tournament.

[45] In April, he scored a vital goal in a 1–1 draw against Arsenal, helping Liverpool secure fourth spot ahead of local rivals Everton.

[51] On 2 October 2008, Crouch scored twice in extra time in a UEFA Cup match away to Portuguese team Vitória de Guimarães to help Portsmouth reach the group stages of the competition.

[60][61] In May, his late goal against Manchester City in what was being dubbed as the "£15 million game" put Spurs in a position to claim their first-ever Champions League berth.

After having hit the post and missed a Benoît Assou-Ekotto cross, Crouch scored a header after goalkeeper Márton Fülöp could only parry the ball into his path.

[62] On 25 August 2010, Crouch scored a hat-trick at White Hart Lane against Young Boys to help Tottenham to reach the group stage of the 2010–11 Champions League.

[63] On 15 February 2011, Crouch scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the Champions League second round, first leg match against Milan at the San Siro, sweeping home Aaron Lennon's cut-back after a counter-attack.

[68][69] Speaking after sealing his move to the Britannia Stadium, Crouch revealed that his former Tottenham teammate Jonathan Woodgate was a major influence upon his decision to join Stoke.

[73] Crouch went on to score against Arsenal, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers before missing out on the Christmas period matches after suffering from a virus.

[81][82] He lost several teeth after being accidentally kicked in the mouth by Fabricio Coloccini in a match against Newcastle United on 28 November 2012 and as a result had to undergo corrective surgery.

[119] Crouch was capped for the England under-20 team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, with teammates including Stuart Taylor, Ashley Cole, Andrew Johnson and Matthew Etherington.

[121][122] In May 2005 he was handed his first call-up to the England senior squad by manager Sven-Göran Eriksson for the team's tour of the United States, making his debut against Colombia.

[123] He went on to make two appearances during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign for England: starting against Austria in a 1–0 victory and coming on as a substitute against Poland in a 2–1 win.

[127] In May 2006, Crouch was included in the 23-man England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and was expected to be a significant figure in the team due to Wayne Rooney's foot injury.

The goal provoked some controversy as replays showed Crouch to be pulling on Brent Sancho's long hair, holding the defender down, to gain an advantage.

[133] In England's 1–0 second round victory against Ecuador, Crouch remained an unused substitute as Eriksson switched the team to a new formation with Wayne Rooney as a lone striker.

[157] A tall forward, with a slender physique, Crouch was known for possessing a good first touch,[158][159] as well as an eye for goal;[160][161] however, he was also known for his lack of significant pace, strength, power, and athleticism, while his movement occasionally came under criticism in the media.

[162][163][164] He usually played as a target man in a centre-forward role throughout his career,[165][166] or as a striker,[167] due to his ability to hold up the ball with his back to goal and link-up with his teammates.

[168] Although he was criticised in his youth for his limited ability in the air, despite his height, and for his inability to out–jump other players, he holds the record for the most headed goals in Premier League history.

[171][172] Although generally known as "Crouchy," other nicknames he has been given by fans and the media in England have included "RoboCrouch"[173] and "Crouchinho" (an ironic use of the "-inho" suffix, meaning "little" in Portuguese and used by many Brazilian footballers).