Garth Crooks was a snappy little striker with a blistering turn of pace, and scorer of some memorable goals. Born 10th March, 1958, he joined his home town club, Stoke City, as a 16-year-old
Garth Crooks was a snappy little striker with a blistering turn of pace, and scorer of some memorable goals. Born 10th March, 1958, he joined his home town club, Stoke City, as a 16-year-old in 1974. He scored 53 goals for the Potters in 162 appearances before moving on to Tottenham Hotspur in 1980 for £650,000. Teamed up with Steve Archibald in attack, he made another 160+ appearances, scoring 68 goals. In 1984 he scored eight goals in eight consecutive appearances, equalling the club record. With the Spurs he won two FA Cup winners' medals, in 1981 (when he scored the equaliser prior to Ricky Villa’s memorable winner) and 1982. He also picked up a League Cup runners-up medal against Liverpool in 1984 and a UEFA Cup medal in the same year.
He was capped four times for England at Under-21 level. After a short loan spell with Manchester United, he spent two years with West Bromwich Albion and three more at Charlton Athletic where injury ended his career in 1990. In 1988, Garth Crooks became the first black chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association. In 1999 he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to football.
