If you're good enough, you're old enough: that's what everyone says. When a talented young player emerges, his age doesn't matter; people want to see him in the team. So why, when you become older, is the assumption that you are no longer good enough?
— Peter Crouch
Mark Hughes played until he was nearly 40 at a decent level, and I think I can do the same.
It was only when I got to Tottenham as a youth player that they said, 'You need to be good in the air.' It was made clear I was going be a target man, so I had to start working on my technique.
I came from a good family and a nice area, but I went to a rough state school.
The death of Cyrille Regis, a giant in so many ways, was such a shock and deeply upsetting.
When I first started playing, the only time you knew you would get photographed was if the paparazzi were outside a smart restaurant in town.
I thrive on quick players getting to the byline and sending over crosses. I just have to be quick enough to get on the end of things. In that regard, my job has always been the same, but if we have more wide, quick players, that can only be good for me.
I'd hate to be the sort of player who people just regard as being tall and only good for winning headers.
I've got a good record, but maybe, for whatever reason, it's not built up by people. I wouldn't say I'm hard done by. But it's true that I sometimes don't get the praise.
There is one thing that I would really enjoy, and that is, of course, to get 100 Premier League goals.
Kevin Muscat scared me. You know, people would say 'I'm going to break your legs' - when he would say it, you genuinely believed him.
Tiger Woods and Roger Federer: those two are born winners.
I've always felt that, when I play, I have never let anybody down.
I'm not the type of player that's going to run in behind or go past three and score.
The lowest period was when I was with Tottenham, and they loaned me out to Dulwich Hamlet.
Some people have never fancied me, but there have been plenty others who have backed me.
I can understand why people laugh and make jokes, but I'm comfortable with being this tall. It's not as if I've had a sudden growth spurt. I've always been like this, so I get used to the constant height references.
There shouldn't be a stigma about age with footballers.
Heading is a skill, and it would be a shame to lose that from the game. There is nothing more dramatic than when you see someone score a diving header, for instance.
In my early years, I wanted to be like Paul Gascoigne.
I've always been surrounded by good people who rein me back in.
During the Sir Alex Ferguson years, you would see all those great players - Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo, to name just a few - and you'd quickly realise why Old Trafford had an aura like nowhere else.
I'd like to think I'm an approachable fella, and if someone wants me to pose for a picture, I'll always say 'yes' even when I'm with my family.
I've never been renowned for electric pace. It doesn't seem to have held me back.
I've always felt comfortable on the ball, and I don't know why people are so surprised when you can control it well. It's not a disability. It's just that I'm a bit taller than everyone else.
Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to score volleys.
I'll be walking down the street with a mate, and someone will stop and say 'All right Crouchy, how's things?' and so on. Once they're gone, the person I'm with will say 'Do you know them?' and I'll say 'I've never met them before in my life'. Happens all the time.
Never give up, and always believe you can achieve something.
I don't know why, but playing for England, I always feel I am going to score.
I do a fantastic job for a living: I get to play in front of 90,000, and obviously, everyone knows your name and what have you. But I'm no better than anyone else.
As for my personal ambitions, I always loved playing for England and always felt I did well.
It's nice when you can enjoy yourself and make people smile.
I've never asked for a transfer anywhere, but I've been constantly moving around. It's frustrating.
Analysing games on the TV is something that appeals to me, and anything where you watch football and get paid for it is not a bad living!
The Championship is a ferocious league, physically demanding, and it simply does not allow players the luxury of cruising through.
The thing you don't realise is that every time you head the ball, your brain shakes. Every single time. Have you ever headed a ball badly and seen stars for a couple of seconds? That's your brain shaking. Let's be honest: that can't be healthy, can it?
Spending time in Sweden on loan was one of the best things I ever did.
When I started out, nobody told you how to do an interview. That's how I ended up on the front page of a newspaper dressed as Rodney Trotter with a Reliant Robin.
In my opinion, whenever I've been given the opportunity to play, I've done well and scored goals, and that will continue to be the case.
At first, I was overwhelmed at moving up to international level, but the England lads are top class at making you feel welcome.
It's difficult for anyone to regard a place in the England starting line-up as their own. There's always someone looking to get ahead of you, and that's how it should be.
When I was young, I always enjoyed watching skilful players and trying to emulate them the same as everyone else.
For whatever reason, I have got a few goals against Arsenal, so I do enjoy playing against them.
If I played badly as a kid, my dad would tell me, and my mum would say, 'You were brilliant today'. It's nice to have both: when I need a bit of confidence, I'll see her, and if I need to hear it straight, I'll see my dad.
I did a paper round as a kid, but the early mornings were too much. My dad took it over, so I was getting paid 15 quid a week, but he was doing it!
I am very proud of my goal record for England.
When I was a kid, the FA Cup was the one: it was bigger than the European Cup, even. So to win that, for me, and my dad as well - we used to watch it together - was brilliant.
Des Bulpin discovered me and, along with my dad, would be the biggest influence on my career. I remember him telling me when I was 15 that Jermain Defoe and I would play together for England when we were older, and he hasn't been too far wrong.
Nothing ever stays the same for very long in my life.
I can keep the ball and pass it, and I've always felt comfortable with the ball at my feet.
