A
s a 14-year-old, Peter Crouch used to catch the train
to White Hart Lane twice a week to train at the old
ballcourt as part of our Academy with, among others,
his great friend Ledley King.
Back then, they would dream of playing for Spurs in the
Champions League...and that became reality 15 years later when
they appeared as striker and captain respectively in European
football’s top competition.
We enjoyed a memorable run to the quarter-finals in our first-
ever foray in the competition back in 2010-11, full of magic moments
which players, fans and staff will always treasure.
And, while all the players in Harry Redknapp’s squad played
their part, Crouchy had a huge influence every step of the way
- from scoring the goal against Manchester City which secured
our top four place the previous season to getting sent off in the
Bernabeu as we crashed out to Real Madrid – with plenty of goals
in between for good measure!
“It was a brilliant campaign, incredible...one of the best spells
of my career,” said the current Stoke City striker. “I had a couple
of good seasons at Liverpool and played for England but that
year or so, finishing fourth that night at City and getting into the
Champions League for the first time was such an achievement. To
have the run we did in the competition was amazing and something
that will live with me forever.”
It all started in Switzerland and a play-off tie against Young
Boys, but our Euro adventure almost ended before it even warmed
up. Trailing 3-0 in the first leg, goals from Sebastian Bassong and
Roman Pavlyuchenko dragged us back into the tie and we finishedTOTTENHAMHOTSPUR.COM(^53)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V APOEL FC
If anyone should reminisce about our Champions League
campaign of 2010-11, it’s Peter Crouch, who played a
huge part in our memorable run to the quarter-finals.
DREAMING
OF GLORY
PETER CROUCH
Peter Crouch’s brilliant hat-trick
against Young Boys secures
our place in the group stages