Alious“I Almost Joined Sunderland – But Newcastle Was the Dream”: Peter Crouch Opens Up on Biggest Transfer Regret
Former England striker Peter Crouch has revealed that, despite once agreeing a move to Sunderland, he always wished he had played for Newcastle United instead.
Crouch, a member of the Premier League 100 club, enjoyed a long and varied top-flight career, turning out for Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City. Yet one iconic club always remained missing from his résumé: Newcastle United.
In 2009, a move to the North East appeared imminent when Crouch agreed personal terms with Sunderland. He toured the club’s training facilities, held talks with then-manager Steve Bruce and even began house-hunting in anticipation of leaving Portsmouth. Everything pointed towards him becoming a Black Cats player.
However, fate intervened during his journey home. Crouch received a call from Harry Redknapp, a manager he knew well from their time together at Portsmouth and Southampton. Redknapp was keen to reunite at Tottenham Hotspur and ultimately got his wish, with Spurs securing Crouch’s signature in a £10 million deal.
Years later, reflecting on his career, Crouch was asked to name the one club he wished he had represented. His response was immediate and decisive. He admitted there was something uniquely special about being Newcastle United’s number nine.
Crouch spoke passionately about St James’ Park, describing Newcastle as a true football city where supporters live and breathe the game. He reflected on the legendary centre-forwards who had thrived there and the hero status that came with scoring goals for the Magpies. Even the pre-match atmosphere and music left a lasting impression on him as an away player.
The former striker acknowledged that the timing might have worked perfectly had he arrived just after Alan Shearer’s era, believing he would have been at an ideal stage of his career. While he accepted that such scenarios are purely hypothetical, Crouch concluded that, if given the choice, Newcastle United would have been the one club he most wanted to play for.
That sense of prestige surrounding Newcastle’s iconic number nine shirt is something Shearer himself spoke about in 2019 at NBC’s Premier League Mornings Live event. Shearer explained how growing up as a Newcastle supporter made wearing the No. 9 shirt a personal honour, inspired by legends such as Jackie Milburn and Malcolm Macdonald.
Together, their reflections underline just how powerful and symbolic the role of Newcastle United’s leading striker remains — a dream Crouch admits he always wished he had lived.
Alious
