There is more to football than just, well, football.
While the names of the games would vary depending what part of these beautiful British shores one hails from, the joy will always be the same. ‘Heads and volleys’, ‘head tennis’, ‘two touch’, and ‘Wembley Doubles’ are just two examples of an endless amount of childhood, or adulthood, games football fans have played at one stage.
Premier League and international footballers are no different, as former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur forward Peter Crouch has explained on countless occasions. And, just as there were for those of us whose childhoods were spent playing the aforementioned childhood matches until dark, there were some brutal consequences.
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Commonly, such ramifications for losing or conceding include a football being pelted at your backside. However, Crouch and his former team-mates had another brutal forfeit, that was often paid in blood.
“Usually in the hotel before the game, we would have a game of two-touch,” Crouch said on ‘That Peter Crouch podcast’. “We would have a big room where the massage table was.
“And you would always flick, but when I say flick, I mean no-holds barred flick. We used to draw blood.
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“We drew blood a few times.” Ironically, these forfeits could very well explain some of Crouch’s best qualities during his playing career.
While he will always be best known for his iconic ‘robot celebration’ for England and the fact that he was 6ft 7in tall, he was more than a big target-man who could do a mildly good impression of a cyborg.
He was known for his technical ability, particularly when it came to controlling the ball and bringing other strike partners, such as Jermain Defoe, into the game. However, one must not forget, his incredible litany of unforgettable goals, including his overhead kick for Liverpool in the Champions League, or his chest and volley from 35 yards against Manchester City for Stoke City. Considering the brutal game he used to play in training, it is very easy to see where his qualities were honed.
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