By virtue of being one of the most talented journeymen of the Premier League era, former striker Peter Crouch has played in a plethora of stadiums across England – but he's explained why Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park was his least enjoyable away ground.
Since retiring from the professional game, Crouch has risen to further stardom in his punditry role thanks to his made-for-consumption personality. For England, he scored an impressive 22 goals in 42 outings, but it’s his club career that he's so fondly remembered for by aficionados.
The retired 6ft 7in centre-forward is known as one of the most ‘unorthodox’ players in football history because of his height, akin to that of a basketball player, and turned out for the likes of Liverpool, Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur throughout his 721-game spell at club level.
Thanks to playing at the highest level – most notably, in the Champions League with the aforementioned Reds – the Macclesfield-born ace had the pleasure of travelling across the world to play the beautiful game and, thus, playing in some of football's greatest ever stadiums.
Snubbing the likes of Everton's Goodison Park, Old Trafford - the home of Manchester United – and Chelsea's Stamford Bridge, all of which are ingrained in English football mythology, the striker-turned-pundit was adamant on one ground that he disliked visiting the most over the years.
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Speaking on ‘That Peter Crouch Podcast’, the former England international suggested that, despite still finding the back of the net there, he knew he was in for a ‘real difficult afternoon’ when heading to face Crystal Palace on their home turf in south London. He said:
“The one I probably enjoyed the least was Selhurst Park. I scored a couple of goals there, but I always found it to be a real difficult afternoon. It was never pleasant.”
Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park
Ranked 16th out of 20th on GiveMeSport's list of the Premier League's best stadiums, Selhurst Park – designed by architect Archibald Leitch – has a capacity of 26,047 and was opened and became the home of the Eagles in 1924.
Crouch’s co-host Steve Sidwell, best remembered for his days spent at Reading, opted for Everton’s home stadium, commenting: “Goodison Park was tough. Not so much now I’d say, times have changed, but you knew if you came away from Goodison Park and got a victory, you earned it.”