During his three years on Merseyside, Peter Crouch established himself as a Liverpool hero.
His 42 goals for the Reds during that time helped contribute towards an FA Cup triumph in 2006 under Rafa Benitez, but the depth of feeling among supporters at Anfield goes beyond his achievements on the pitch.
The likable and affable former England frontman is just as revered for his down-to-earth nature and having left Liverpool in 2008, Crouch went on to have further goal-laden spells with the likes of Portsmouth, Tottenham and Stoke City before retiring in 2019 after a short stint with Burnley.
In total, Crouch turned out for as many as 13 clubs, including three on loan, but it was his time at Anfield, as well as his exploits with England, that made him a household name across the country.
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As part of the roll-out for his brand new Amazon documentary, 'That Peter Crouch Film', which is available this week, the ECHO's Paul Gorst sat down with Crouch at Anfield to talk through his playing days with the Reds.
So Peter, you're back at Anfield - looking out on to the hallowed turf - do you want to tell us a little bit more about why you're here and why you've been chatting to a certain Steven Gerrard today?
"That's right, yes, I've been chatting to Stevie today and it's been great to link up with him again. He was a huge part of my career with Liverpool and England as well, and was a big help as well, so meeting up with him was part of me filming an Amazon documentary and I wanted Steven to be a part of it because he was a part of my journey here at Liverpool.
"He was my captain here when I went through a sort of difficult spell and then I came through that and ended up winning the FA Cup and some of the happiest memories of my life really were at this club."
And if you're going to get a glowing recommendation, they don't come much better than Steve Gerrard...
"No, definitely! And like I say I am still so proud to be able to still speak to him. I think he is probably the best player I played with. I played with some great players and with England as well, but for me, Steven was always the best. And he was just sort of hugely influential on and off the field. So any time you get to spend with Stevie is always good."
Well we're going to get into a little bit more about some of the players you played with, but just going back to the summer of 2005; you left Southampton and Rafa Benitez brings you to the club - what can you remember about that time and when Liverpool's interest first surfaced?
"I remember watching the [2005 Champions League] final in Istanbul, actually. I was away with England at the time and we were in America. I remember watching it and just thinking 'what a club' and the size of it. It was one of the best games I'd ever seen and little did I know, fast forward to the pre-season in 2005, that I'd be playing for Liverpool!
"I had no clue that was going to happen. You don't realise the size of the club until you join and you see all the pictures on the walls, you walk around the Kop and so much of it is a cliche about Liverpool's history but until you see it, you [don't] realise the magnitude of it all.
"For me to play for a club this size and to be remembered fondly by the fans who are so knowledgeable about football is a big honour for me. And when I come back here, the people around the city are just first class with me and remember what I achieved as a player. They remember me from being around the place and I've only got fond memories of the city in general."
So when you joined back at the old Melwood - the iconic training ground - what were some of your first impressions of that and some of the players you were training with? Was it a sort-of a 'wow' moment?
"Yes, it was. It felt like it just went up a gear and that's no criticism to Southampton as a club as they had some very good players at that time but playing for England and Liverpool, you just knew the stands required were different. It was a higher level. Steven was a huge factor in that and Jamie Carragher was a huge factor in that but it wasn't just those two.
"You know, Sami Hyypia, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Morientes, Fernando Torres; players with huge calibre but also winners. That is what I found straight away when I came to the club."
You went through a bit of a tough period when you first joined and took a while to get going. Your manager at the time, Rafa Benitez, was probably not famous for putting his arm around players, so the fact he was still picking you, did that make you feel that you were doing something right, even if you weren't banging in the goals initially?
"Yes, that's exactly right. Rafa had a huge belief in me and it wasn't always about just scoring goals. Even when I spoke to Steven, he was telling me I was bringing a lot to the game and I do have a lot to thank the fans for because having won the Champions League or the European Cup, there's not many teams would've stuck with a striker who hadn't scored for that long (19 games) but it felt like the rest of the world, if you like, was a against me and I was in a bubble, which was Liverpool.
"My team-mates and the fans around me were willing me to succeed and that was the only reason I got through that time because it was a difficult time, without doubt in my life. But then once I got through that, I was so pleased and proud to get through that because it was hard. But then I did [get through it] and then I did start scoring goals and you start winning things and I felt like I was paying the fans back a bit. I'll never be able to repay that but thank God I was considered a success in the end, rather than a failure."
You had that goal against Wigan didn't you, where it was disputed a little bit but then you put that to bed in the same game. Then you went on to score five in that month so that was a bit of a purple patch, which is the way it works sometimes for strikers...
"Yes, that's just the way it was. I couldn't buy a goal and then once that went in, I think I had the third last touch as it flicked up off a defender and then Mike Pollitt (the goalkeeper) palmed it in. It probably wasn't my goal to be honest! (laughs) but thank God I put it to bed with the second one and then I went on a run then. And even when I was playing for England I felt like I was going to continually score. I was full of confidence and there's no better feeling.
"I still maintain the sort of best period of my football career was those three years at Liverpool where I was scoring for Liverpool, scoring for England, winning and being involved in big competitions. I think that was the happiest period of my career."
Speaking of big competitions, you went to Japan as part of the Club World Cup in 2005 within six months of joining and you're only playing in that if you're at a club who have just won the Champions League. What were some of your memories of those days in Japan?
"It was really strange. I remember rooming with Steve Finnan and Finns was playing like Mario Kart at 3am because we didn't have time to adapt to the time zone differences and that was a strange thing. But it was an amazing experience.
"I hadn't been to Japan before and I haven't been since. It was a great sort of thing in my life. We did that and I think I scored a couple of goals in my first game. I was buzzing, thinking 'we're going to win this' and then we just played a totally different team in the final and ended up losing it.
"It was frustrating really because that would have been a nice one to have on the CV, if you like."
Well Liverpool hadn't won it at the time and that was a chance that went begging. I've got to ask, we've heard about the stories from Jamie Carragher and Didi Hamann about a certain night out in Japan. It was karaoke and all that kind of stuff...do you remember that night?
"Oh I remember it! And I'm glad they (Carragher and Hamann) have touched on it before I have! (laughs). But yeah, it was carnage. All the fans were in this one bar and we ended up in there. Didi Hamann, Pepe Reina was there, we all sang songs and I always remember there was only one cab home and everyone was fighting to get in this cab! (laughs).
"But yeah, it was a great, great night. The fans that were out there, they probably didn't have a clue but the team was there and the fans were there and it was just a great night all of us together. Yeah, a bit of an away trip, if you like, but a lot of fun."
It might have been a bit of a surreal one but did it make you look at how big this football club is? You've gone to Japan and there are supporters there cheering you on...
"There were so many and it wasn't only that, there were locals as well. I remember going for a walk and there were thousands of fans behind us and they were really respectful, they were not invading our privacy. We all walked around and they would only engage when we engaged with them. We had a chat with them and they all came in to get pictures with us.
"But I remember getting on the team bus and we saw all the flags and of course there were fans that had travelled but there were a lot of local fans and you realise how big Liverpool is when you see fans across these places. Even when we travelled pre-season, it is a global football club, which is just so special."
Part two of the ECHO's chat with Peter Crouch centres around the 2006 FA Cup final, the run to the 2007 Champions League final.
