Stoke City striker Peter Crouch has earned a place in history with his record-breaking tally of 51 headed goals in the Premier League, securing him a coveted spot in the Guinness World Records 2018 annual.

The former Liverpool man headed his very first goal in the Premier League in 2001, for Aston Villa. He surpassed Alan Shearer’s total of 46 headed goals in May 2015 and has since added a further four headers to his Most football (soccer) Premier League headed goals record.

“It feels good!” he says. “To hold any record, certainly in the Premier League, is great. I’m very proud of it.”

Crouch is among the last of a dying breed of strikers. “I see centre forwards hanging around outside the box and it blows my mind, I just can’t get my head around it,” he admits. “I believe if you are a centre forward, you should be in the box, ready for the ball. That’s the way I have always played my game and that will never change.”

Crouch earned himself 42 caps for England over a five-year spell, scoring an impressive 22 goals. But his final cap came when he was just 30 years old, in November 2010. In retrospect, did his international career end prematurely? “I believe it ended too soon, but that’s football, it’s a game of opinions,” he says. “I had a great run, I loved it. I was part of every squad for five years in a period where I think we had our best team since ’66 and really should have won something.”

Watch the interview below to hear more on Crouch’s favourite headed goals, find out which Premier League striker could beat his record, discover the best teams he has played in and learn which team in the Premier League struggled most to cope with his height.

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Crouch is one of many new footballing record holders in this year’s GWR annual. How does his knowledge of his fellow record holders match up to yours?

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Among the many other record-breaking footballers who appear in Guinness World Records 2018, you’ll find Christian Benteke (Fastest goal scored in a FIFA football World Cup qualifier – 8.1 sec), Joachim Löw (Most games won by a coach with the same international football team) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Most UEFA European Championship tournaments scored in by a player – four).

Pick up a copy of Guinness World Records 2018 to read more about record-breaking sports stars from around the world.