Barry Town’s unrivaled success in the early noughties is well documented. They completed the Welsh Cup and Premier League double three years in succession, as well as beating Porto in the Champions League. And, they very nearly had a highly-esteemed talent joining their ranks.
After over 600 appearances during his illustrious career, former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur frontman, Peter Crouch, announcement his retirement from football.
His nicknames, robotic goal celebrations and off the field personality made Crouch quite the footballer. A fan favourite at whatever club he played for, and a man who will go down in football history – not just for his height.
But, what has Peter Crouch got to do with Barry Town and the Welsh club’s success during the early noughties?
Well, Crouch might have made his Champions League debut in a Liverpool shirt in 2005, but his first appearance in Europe’s premier competition might have come a mere six years earlier if Barry Town’s manager could have kept the potential signing close to his chest.
Peter Nicholas – Barry’s manager at the time – struck a deal to lure Crouch to the glorious Jenner Park on a three-month loan from his first club, Tottenham. But, Queens Park Rangers scuppered Barry’s hopes after Nicholas spilt the beans regarding the transfer.
Crouch, a now Champions League finalist and FA Cup winner, was traveling down to South Wales in order to pursue a short-term loan at Nicholas’ Barry, only for him to be told to revert direction and head to Loftus Road.
“Basically I shot myself in the foot!” Nicholas admitted to walesonline.co.uk, whilst he was manager of Llanelli. “Every time I see him on the telly playing for Liverpool or England now I think back to the time I almost got him down here.
“I couldn’t blame him for going to QPR, but I couldn’t believe what happened. We’d been so close to getting him.”
Nicholas explained: “I knew David Pleat very well [then Spurs’ director of football] as I played for him at Luton.
“After taking over at Barry, I rang him to say we were about to play Boavista in the Champions League and I needed a striker.
“He said, ‘No problem, you can have the boy Crouch on a three-month loan.’
“He knew what a terrific experience it would be for Peter to play in the Champions League at such a young age – how many 19-year-olds get to do that?
“I was thrilled to get Crouchy because I’d known Peter since he was 13 as I used to see him on the youth circuit in London.
“Anyway, as Peter was driving down from London, I had a phone call from a friend of mine called Des Bulpin, who was assistant manager to Gerry Francis at QPR.
“A bit naively, I said to Des, ‘You’ll never guess who I’ve managed to sign – Peter Crouch. He said, ‘You’re joking?’
“I should’ve realised I was shooting myself in the foot because Des also knew Peter very well from his time as youth coach at QPR.
“Anyway, half an hour later, as I’m waiting for Peter to arrive, I get a call to say Crouch won’t be coming to Barry after all as, in that short space of time, QPR had done a deal with Spurs to sign him for £100,000.
“And that was that – we’d missed out on Crouch because of me letting the cat out of the bag on the phone to Des.”
Barry Town had Crouch’s services under their belts for approximately three hours.
He went onto play over 600 matches, represent the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and England, and play a grand total of 225 matches for Stoke City – a club who took Crouch to their hearts.
(Featured Image: Matt Boulton)
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