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When Peter Crouch scored his first goals for Liverpool against Wigan in December 2005, he had gone eighteen games without finding the net since joining from Southampton. The £7 million striker had been getting stick from supporters and the press, but his two goals in a 3-0 win at Anfield finally ended the drought. That evening, he went out celebrating in Liverpool, unaware that a young waitress called Abbey Clancy had been hoping to meet him for weeks. Abbey worked in a restaurant that Crouch regularly visited, although somehow she always seemed to miss him. “I actually fancied Pete.” “He was having a tough time not scoring for Liverpool, and I just felt like he needed looking after.” Whenever Abbey knew Crouch might be coming into the restaurant, she would try to arrange her shifts so she could see him. But things never quite worked out. Then her best friend Kaz invited her to a birthday party at Mosquito, a bar in Liverpool. Abbey was working upstairs that evening, so when she finished her shift, she headed downstairs to join everyone. Crouch was there. As Abbey walked past him on her way to the toilet, she finally found an excuse to speak to him. “Well done.” “You scored your first goal for Liverpool, didn’t you?” Crouch was delighted. Not only had he finally scored for Liverpool, but a girl he couldn’t believe was interested in him had just approached him. “I thought she was out of my league.” “I’ve never seen a more beautiful girl in my life.” They got talking, and before long, Crouch asked for her phone number. Abbey gave it to him. After the season he had been having, Crouch could hardly believe how well his day had gone. “First I scored on the field, now I’m scoring off it!” But he was about to find out that getting Abbey’s number was not quite the achievement he thought it was. She went back to the toilet, leaving Crouch to carry on enjoying his night. When Abbey returned, she spotted him talking to another woman. She marched straight over. “Look at you.” “Who do you think you are?” Crouch had absolutely no idea what he had done wrong. “In my defence, I was literally just talking.” Abbey was having none of it. “Give me my number back now.” Crouch couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You can’t give someone your number and take it back ten minutes later.” Fortunately for him, Abbey eventually forgave him, and the pair arranged to go on a proper date. Crouch was still fairly new to Liverpool and wanted somewhere quiet where they wouldn’t be bothered by supporters or photographers. So rather than taking Abbey to an expensive restaurant, he chose an old-fashioned pub near his flat. Abbey turned up wearing leopard-print heels with just £7 in her purse. She was expecting a romantic evening with the Liverpool striker, but instead found herself sitting on a wooden stool in the corner of a pub full of older men. And things did not improve when Crouch pointed towards a building outside. “That’s my bedroom window there.” Abbey immediately became suspicious. “Does he think he’s going to get me p****d and take me back to his flat?” “Because that is not happening whatsoever.” Despite the argument in the nightclub and their rather unusual first date, she was convinced there was something special about him. “I knew he’d be my boyfriend.” “I knew he was the one.” Her family were less enthusiastic when she finally told them who she had been seeing. Abbey’s dad Geoff was a lifelong Liverpool supporter, but when he discovered his daughter was dating one of the club’s players, he went mad. He was worried about the reputation footballers had and what people would say about his daughter. Crouch eventually won him over, and the couple married in 2011 before going on to have four children together. Years later, Crouch remembered her coming back from the toilet, spotting him speaking to another woman and immediately demanding to know who he thought he was. “I should have known then what I was getting myself into.” #football