BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Garth Anthony Crooks OBE born 10 March 1958 is a retired English football player of Jamaican ancestry. He played for Stoke City,Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic. Throughout his career he was an active member of the Professional Footballers' Association and was elected the first black chairman of the union. He currently works for the BBC as a pundit.
Crooks was born in Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent and progressed through the youth ranks at Stoke City signing professional contract forms in March 1976. He made his debut in April at home to Coventry City becoming the first black player to play for Stoke since Roy Brownin the 1940s. In the 1976–77 season his first full season he was top-scorer albeit with just six goals as Stoke's financial problems saw them relegated to the Second Division. Many black players at the time suffered racist abuse from the stands. Crooks was no exception, but his "cocky arrogance" meant it did little to affect him. His pace caused problems for Second Division defences as he again top-scored with 19 in 1977–78 as Stoke failed to mount a serious promotion attempt. Manager Alan Durban decided to play Crooks as a winger at the start of the 1978–79 season, a decision which Crooks openly criticised. He was restored to his striker role with the season coming to an end which saw Stoke gain promotion by beating Notts County on the final day of the season. He scored 14 goals in 1979–80 as Stoke safely avoided relegation but tensions between Crooks and Durban resurfaced which led to Crooks handing in a transfer request.Club career.
He was sold to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1980 for a fee of £650,000, where he formed a successful striking partnership with Steve Archibald. With Crooks leading the line, Spurs won two FA Cups and the 1984 UEFA Cup, won against Anderlecht (he was an unused substitute in the final's second leg). Crooks is frequently credited as the first black player to score in an FA Cup final for his equalising goal in a 3–2 win over Manchester City in 1981, though this was pre-dated by Mike Trebilcock in 1966. He later went on loan to Manchester United and had spells atWest Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic before a knee injury forced his retirement in 1990.
International career
Crooks represented England at international level making four appearances for the England Under-21s for whom he scored three goals.
Media Career
In 1988, Crooks became the first black chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association but gave up the role after retiring in 1990.Match of the Day's reporter at the England camp at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. In the late 1990s, Crooks became presenter of the political television show Despatch Box. In 1999 he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to football punditry, specifically citing his ability to bring passion to football. He currently appears regularly on Final Score as a pundit and on rare occasions still appears on Match of the Day as a replacement for regular pundits (Alan Shearer, Alan Hansen andMark Lawrenson). He is occasionally seen interviewing players for BBC television after league football matches. He also names his "best eleven" footballers each week on the BBC website.
He first worked in the media as a match analyst at the 1982 and 1990 World Cups and later worked as
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