Nigel John Crouch (born 24 November 1958) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a full-back in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for Lincoln City on loan from

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

, and for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

. Crouch began his career with Ipswich, where he progressed through the youth team. He earned a professional contract in 1978, but failed to make a first-team appearance for the Suffolk club. He was loaned out to Lincoln City in 1979, where he made his professional debut, going on to make seven appearances. Following his release from Ipswich in the summer of 1980, he joined local rivals

, where he became the club's first-ever player to be

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

on his debut. He went on to make ten further league appearances for the U's, but he was released at the end of the season. He would later go on to represent

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

clubs

Harwich & Parkeston Harwich & Parkeston Football Club is a football club based in Harwich, Essex, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Royal Oak ground. History The club was established in 1875, and reached their first cup final in 1891, ...

, Brantham Athletic and Mistley.

Career

Crouch, born in

Ardleigh Ardleigh is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is situated approximately northeast from the centre of Colchester and northeast from the county town of Chelmsford. History Ardleigh appears in Domesday Book of 1086, when it is de ...

, Essex, began his career with

in 1976, joining up with the youth team at the age of 17. He made 17 reserve team appearances for the club during the 1976–77 season and made 33 appearances in the 1977–78 season. Crouch signed his first professional deal with Ipswich in November 1978, making a further 34 reserve team appearances that season in addition to appearing alongside first-team regulars in

Trevor Whymark Trevor John Whymark (4 May 1950 – 31 October 2024) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League in the 1970s and 1980s, notably with Ipswich Town. A forward, as of 2016, he is the team's sixth-highest goalscorer ...

's testimonial match on 5 February 1979 against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

in a team managed by

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

. In August 1979, Crouch was loaned out to Fourth Division side Lincoln City. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 18 August 1979 in Lincoln's 1–0 home defeat by

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

. He went on to make seven appearances for the Imps, playing his seventh and final match on 18 September, a 3–0 defeat at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

. On his return to Ipswich, Crouch found himself back in the reserves, playing 27 games while also featuring for Town in a 1–0 friendly win against the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

national team on 17 October 1979. Crouch left Ipswich in the summer of 1980 and was brought to Third Division side

by manager Bobby Roberts. He had a memorable debut for the club on 9 August 1980 when he became the first U's player to be

on their debut. He had retaliated to a challenge by Gillingham's

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

in their League Cup first round first-leg 2–0 defeat at

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was the home of Colchester United Football Club from its inception in 1937, up until the club relocated to Colchester Community Stadium in 2008, resulting in its closure. The ...

. Following nine consecutive league appearances through September and October 1980, Crouch found his opportunities limited, and played just once more for Colchester on 18 April 1981, when his side drew 0–0 with Gillingham at Priestfield. He was released by the club at the end of the season. On the back of his release from Colchester, Crouch moved into

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with

and then Brantham Athletic, experiencing long spells with both clubs. He later finished his career with Mistley in the

Essex and Suffolk Border League The Essex and Suffolk Border Football League is a football competition in England. The league has a total of four divisions headed by the Premier Division which sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. The top club may apply f ...

Career statistics

Personal life

Crouch is brother-in-law former Colchester player and

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

Steve Foley. Crouch's son Ross was also a member of Colchester's youth team setup. He was an apprentice between 2001 and 2004, and had represented the under-19 team while just 14-years-old. After captaining the youth team, Ross was handed a professional one-year contract by Colchester manager

Phil Parkinson Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of club Wrexham. Parkinson acquired a Social Science degree early into his career as a man ...

in April 2004. After leaving Colchester and playing for Halstead Town, and being named in the Gazette Non-League Team of the Year in 2008 while playing for Stanway Rovers, Ross was tragically killed in May 2008 after being struck by a car while walking home. In memory of Ross, a stand at Brantham Athletic's ground was named after him, officially opened by his uncle Steve Foley in a match between his two former sides Brantham and Stanway Rovers.

References

* Sourced from {{DEFAULTSORT:Crouch, Nigel 1958 births Living people People from Tendring (district) Men's association football fullbacks English men's footballers Ipswich Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Harwich & Parkeston F.C. players Brantham Athletic F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Essex