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Garth Anthony Crooks, (born 10 March 1958) is an English football pundit and former professional player. He played from 1976 to 1990, for Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic. (2025). 9781874287551, Desert Islands Books. ISBN 9781874287551
In 1979, he played in a benefit match for West Bromwich Albion player Len Cantello, that saw a team of white players play against a team of black players.
He was sold to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1980 for a fee of £650,000. He scored on his debut against Nottingham Forest, and formed a successful striking partnership with Steve Archibald. With Crooks leading the line, Spurs won the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982, and the 1984 UEFA Cup final against Anderlecht. Crooks is frequently credited as the first black people player to score in an FA Cup final for his equalising goal in a 3–2 win over Manchester City in 1981, Football: Halcyon days for a political footballer, Alan Hubbard, The Independent, 11 April 1999 though this was pre-dated by Bill Perry in 1953 and Mike Trebilcock in 1966. He later went on loan to Manchester United and had spells at West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic before a knee injury forced his retirement in 1990. Charlton were relegated from the First Division, just as the West Bromwich Albion side he had played in four seasons earlier had been.
He appeared regularly as a pundit on Final Score from its first series in 2001 until 2022, and on rare occasions on Match of the Day as a replacement for regular pundits and interviewing players for Football Focus. In August 2024, he ended his Premier League team of the week column on the BBC News website due to creative differences. Team of the week Retrieved 3 September 2008
In 1988, Crooks became the first black chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association but gave up the role after retiring in 1990. In the 1999 Birthday Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to the Institute of Professional Sport."
Away from football, he hosted the BBC Two political late-night programme Despatch Box in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
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