Garth Crooks

Garth Crooks

Crooks in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Garth Anthony Crooks
Date of birth	(1958-03-10) 10 March 1958
Place of birth	Stoke-on-Trent, England
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1976–1980	Stoke City	147	(48)
1980–1985	Tottenham Hotspur	125	(48)
1983–1984	→ Manchester United (loan)	7	(2)
1985–1987	West Bromwich Albion	40	(16)
1987–1990	Charlton Athletic	56	(15)
Total		375	(129)
International career
1979–1980	England U21	4	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Garth Anthony Crooks, OBE (born 10 March 1958) is an English former professional footballer. He played for Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic. Throughout his career he was an active member of the Professional Footballers' Association and was elected the first black chairman of the union. He currently works for the BBC as a television pundit.

Club career

Crooks was born in Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, and progressed through the youth ranks at Stoke City signing professional contract forms in March 1976. He made his debut in April at home to Coventry City becoming the first black player to play for Stoke since Roy Brown in the 1940s. In the 1976–77 season his first full season he was top-scorer albeit with just six goals as Stoke's financial problems saw them relegated to the Second Division. Many black players at the time suffered racist abuse from the stands. Crooks was no exception, but his "cocky arrogance" meant it did little to affect him. His pace caused problems for Second Division defences as he again top-scored with 19 in 1977–78 as Stoke failed to mount a serious promotion attempt. Manager Alan Durban decided to play Crooks as a winger at the start of the 1978–79 season, a decision which Crooks openly criticised. He was restored to his striker role with the season coming to an end which saw Stoke gain promotion by beating Notts County on the final day of the season. He scored 14 goals in 1979–80 as Stoke safely avoided relegation but tensions between Crooks and Durban resurfaced which led to Crooks handing in a transfer request.

He was sold to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1980 for a fee of £650,000, where he formed a successful striking partnership with Steve Archibald. With Crooks leading the line, Spurs won two FA Cups, and the 1984 UEFA Cup against Anderlecht (he was an unused substitute in the final's second leg). Crooks is frequently credited as the first black player to score in an FA Cup final for his equalising goal in a 3–2 win over Manchester City in 1981, though this was pre-dated by Bill Perry in 1953. He later went on loan to Manchester United and had spells at West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic before a knee injury forced his retirement in 1990. His career ended on a low note as Charlton were relegated from the First Division, just as the West Bromwich Albion side he had played in four seasons earlier had been.

International career

Crooks represented England at international level making four appearances for the England Under-21s for whom he scored three goals.

Media career

In 1988, Crooks became the first black chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association but gave up the role after retiring in 1990. He first worked in the media as a match analyst at the 1982 and 1990 World Cups and later worked as Match of the Day's reporter at the England camp at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. In the late 1990s, Crooks became presenter of the political television show Despatch Box. In 1999 he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to football punditry, specifically citing his ability to bring passion to football. He currently appears regularly on Final Score as a pundit and on rare occasions still appears on Match of the Day as a replacement for regular pundits Alan Shearer and Mark Lawrenson. He is occasionally seen interviewing players for BBC television after league football matches. He also names his team of the week (Premier League) each week on the BBC website.

Career statistics

• Sourced from Garth Crooks profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stoke City	1975–76	First Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	1976–77	First Division	23	6	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	26	6
	1977–78	Second Division	42	18	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	45	19
	1978–79	Second Division	40	12	1	0	5	1	0	0	0	0	46	14
	1979–80	First Division	40	12	1	0	4	2	0	0	0	0	45	14
	Total		147	48	5	1	12	3	0	0	0	0	164	53
Tottenham Hotspur	1980–81	First Division	40	16	9	4	6	2	0	0	0	0	55	22
	1981–82	First Division	27	13	7	3	7	0	5	2	0	0	46	18
	1982–83	First Division	26	8	2	1	4	3	4	3	1	0	37	15
	1983–84	First Division	10	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	12	2
	1984–85	First Division	22	10	3	1	2	4	6	3	0	0	33	18
	Total		125	48	21	9	20	9	16	9	1	0	183	75
Manchester United (loan)	1983–84	First Division	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	2
	Total		7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	2
West Bromwich Albion	1985–86	First Division	19	5	0	0	6	2	0	0	3	3	28	10
	1986–87	Second Division	21	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	23	11
	Total		40	16	1	0	6	2	0	0	4	3	51	21
Charlton Athletic	1986–87	First Division	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	12	2
	1987–88	First Division	28	10	1	0	2	2	0	0	1	0	32	12
	1988–89	First Division	14	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	3
	1989–90	First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	1990–91	Second Division	7	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
	Total		56	15	4	1	4	2	0	0	7	0	71	18
Career Total			375	129	31	11	42	16	16	9	12	3	476	168

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the FA Charity Shield, Football League play-offs and Full Members Cup.

External links

• PFA profile of Garth Crooks
• PFA profile of Garth Crooks Years:1988-1990
• BBC profile