The Famous Anthem

1. Breaking his duck

The well known phrase referring to the reliability of 'London buses' could not have been more apt for Peter Crouch as he made his way home from Anfield on the evening of December 3, 2005.

He had endured a difficult first few months in the red of Liverpool after failing to find the net in his first 18 matches for the club; but as the whistle blew on game number 19 he had not only ended 1,229 minutes of frustration in front of goal with one strike - he had actually managed two.

The victims on that famous afternoon were Paul Jewell's Wigan Athletic and as Crouchie looks back on his three-year spell at Anfield he will no doubt reflect upon an aberration from Latics keeper Mike Pollitt as a watershed moment.

It arrived on 19 minutes when Crouch picked the ball up just inside the Wigan half. With options on either side he moved forward purposefully before firing a 25-yard shot at goal that took a wicked deflection off a Latics defender and looped towards the visitors' goal.

Pollitt managed to back pedal to his goal-line and looked all set to tip the ball over his crossbar...

But this time, Crouchie's luck had finally turned.

The keeper had enjoyed a solid start to the match up until that point, but his afternoon soon turned horribly wrong when he somehow contrived to punch the ball into the roof of the net to give Liverpool the lead and spark mass celebrations around Anfield.

A weight had been lifted and there was no small irony that after waiting 18 games to get his first goal for the club, his second arrived just 23 minutes later when he broke the offside trap to race through and coolly lob the ball over the advancing Pollitt.

It set the Reds on the road to a 3-0 victory and perhaps more significantly, gave Crouch the confidence to go on and carve out a successful career with the club.

Speaking after the game he admitted it was huge relief to have broken his duck.

"I had a big slice of luck with the first one obviously," he said. "It was on target but went a bit higher than I planned. If it goes to the dubious goals committee I'll be telling them that it's definitely mine.

"I am a buoyant person by nature but if I'm honest this goal drought has been getting me down at times. I've been getting a bit of stick lately but it's great to get the goals today and hopefully I can go on from here and score more."

2. Goodison Glory

From shot-shy striker to a forward on fire, an in-form Peter Crouch and his Liverpool teammates made the short trip across Stanley Park hoping to make it nine Premier League wins on the spin against neighbours Everton.

The towering frontman, who had failed to find the net in the first four months of the campaign, had undergone a complete transformation and the Reds now possessed a striker with a happy knack for scoring important goals.

None more so than the 11th minute opener he conjured up in front of the Gwladys Street faithful to set Rafael Benitez's men on their way to an impressive 3-1 victory and further convince sceptical Reds that he could yet prove to be a key player for the club.

A long clearance down the middle by Pepe Reina eventually saw the ball break off Djibril Cisse to Steven Gerrard who then laid the ball back to Cisse. The Frenchman returned the ball to his skipper who brilliantly headed the high pass through to Crouch, who timed his run to perfection, to skip beyond Tim Howard and confidently fire Liverpool in front.

It meant more back page headlines for Crouchie, but this time they were for his prowess in front of goal and not his profligacy.

"I think that's my sweetest goal of all," he said at the time. "We all know what this game means to the supporters in this part of the world, so for me to get the first goal gave me a great buzz because I knew it was so crucial.

"My confidence is really high and that's natural when you're in the goals. When my chance came I had no hesitation in putting it away.

"It feels even better because it's helped us to a good win in very difficult circumstances. It's never easy to win a derby."

3. Peter the Great downs United

Any lingering doubts as to whether Crouchie could be the big man for the big occasion were duly banished when Manchester United came to town.

The stage was a mouthwatering FA Cup fifth round tie at Anfield and in a theatre packed full with some of the games finest performers it was Crouch who emerged as the protagonist.

The Reds striker was now showing the type of form that had convinced Rafael Benitez to part with a substantial sum of the previous summer's transfer kitty for him and he would continue to prove his doubters wrong with a vintage performance against the Red Devils.

The home side dominated for large periods in what was a first-half devoid of many clear-cut opportunities and as the clock ticked by they knew they would need to seize the advantage while they were still in the ascendancy.

It needed something special to break the deadlock and although Harry Kewell saw a header brilliantly stopped by Edwin Van Der Saar, the Reds were not to be denied and got the all-important opener on 19 minutes.

A short corner involving Steven Gerrard and Steve Finnan saw the Irish full-back clip a superb ball to the far post for Crouch to tower above Nemanja Vidic and power a header into the bottom corner.

It was his first goal since New Year's Eve and set the Reds on their way to their first FA Cup win over United in 85 years. It was all the more enjoyable given the way United had snatched an undeserved league victory at Old Trafford just four weeks earlier.

Not even a nasty head wound late in the second-half - which saw him replaced by Djibril Cisse on 89 minutes - could ruin Crouch's day as he reflected on another big moment in his Liverpool career.

"Liverpool against Man United is probably the biggest fixture in English football and so to get the winner is something special," said Crouch.

"We were heartbroken to lose in the last minute at Old Trafford in the league and so this makes up for that.

"I thought we deserved it overall. We competed with them, played at a high tempo and probably created more chances. It's a great win for us and one we are going to enjoy."

4. Amazing acrobatics

"It was amazing. It shows all the quality Peter has."

Thus the words of Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez when asked about Crouchie's magnificent scissor-kick following a 3-2 win over Galatasaray in the Champions League at Anfield.

It was a goal right out of the top drawer, a spectacular effort that not only proved to be the winning strike, but one that was made more all the more special by the fact it came in front of the Kop.

It also went some way to further highlighting Crouchie's rise to prominence, not just in England but across the whole of Europe.

Indeed, he was now a key member of the England squad and a striker who commanded instant respect from some of the finest defenders in the world.

He had been missing from the Reds' starting line-up for the previous five matches but responded in perfect fashion with a superb brace that included a worthy goal of the season contender.

It had arrived early in the second half with Liverpool already two goals to the good.

Jermaine Pennant and Steve Finnan dispossessed Ayhan on the right touchline with the full-back's centre met by the back-flipping Crouch, who executed an overhead kick from 10 yards out that quite simply defied belief.

It was his 10th strike in eight starts for both club and country and proved to be one of the highlights of a campaign that saw Liverpool reach the Champions League final in Athens.

Speaking after the match, Crouch admitted it was probably the best goal he had ever scored.

"It was a special moment for me to score that goal at the Kop end," he said.

"I'd have to say it's the best of my Liverpool career so far. You don't get many goals like that, usually they go over the stand but thankfully that one went into the net and got us the win.

"It's obviously frustrating to have been on the bench over recent games because you always want to play. But at a club this size you know you'll be out of the team every now and again and you just have to make sure you're ready when selected."

5. Hat-trick hero

Liverpool had already been on the receiving end of two Anfield hammerings when Arsene Wenger brought his Gunners side to L4 for the third time of asking in the 2006-07 season.

The Reds had suffered humiliation in both the domestic cup competitions with a 3-1 loss in the FA Cup followed just days later by a 6-3 massacre in the Carling Cup, meaning revenge was very much on the cards for the Premier League clash.

The home side were determined to prove a point and show that they were more than match for the Londoners and they got off to the perfect start on four minutes when Crouch arrived at the near post to thrash home Alvaro Arbeloa's low cross after Jermaine Pennant's delightful back-heel had set the full-back free.

The big man was enjoying a superb game leading the line and it was no surprise when he doubled Liverpool's advantage 10 minutes prior to the interval, rising majestically to guide Fabio Aurelio's pinpoint cross beyond Jens Lehmann and into the far corner of the net.

It was the type of goal Crouchie had been bought to score and highlighted just how effective he could be on his day.

With confidence flowing through his veins, the England man was determined to cap a magnificent individual performance with a hat-trick in front of the Kop - but he would have to wait for his chance.

Further goals from Daniel Agger and William Gallas took the score to 3-1 in Liverpool's favour before Crouchie's big moment arrived with eight minutes to go.

Jermaine Pennant sent a low ball into the box which Crouch took superbly before easing past Kolo Toure and cutting back inside the defender with a delicate flick of his right heel.

The audacious piece of skill left Lehmann exposed and all that was left to do was caress the ball beyond the Gunners stopper and into the far corner to clinch a 4-1 victory for the Reds.

It was the best goal of the lot and capped a superb day for the frontman who had not only completed a perfect hat-trick in front of the Kop, but had also scored the first club treble of his career.

"It was a special moment, obviously," he said afterwards. "But getting the win was the most important thing because this was a massive game for us.

"I don't care how they come really but, yes, it was a nice hat-trick and I'm delighted with it. To get the match ball and the three points is very pleasing.

"The service I received from the wide positions was fantastic. It can be hard sometimes when you're on your own up front, you can be a bit isolated, that wasn't the case at all and my job was made easier by my team-mates."

After three seasons, 134 games and 42 goals in a Liverpool shirt Peter Crouch's Anfield career has come to an end.

The towering striker returns to the South coast with former club Portsmouth having overcome a difficult start on Merseyside; going on to enhance his reputation as one of the best centre forwards in the country.

He's big, he WAS red,
But his feet will now stick out of a different bed...
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