Crouch slams 'disgusting' methods Terry used to manipulate referees

Peter Crouch has revealed the “disgusting” methods John Terry used to manipulate Premier League referees to avoid bookings and red cards.

The former Liverpool, Portsmouth and Stoke beanpole striker says the ex-Chelsea captain Terry employed clever pre-match ploys to curry favour with top-level officials throughout the season.

Crouch claims Terry would manipulate and disarm refs by calling them by their first names and enquiry about their families.

This meant in the heat of the battle the refs would hesitate to caution the Chelsea defender if he caused an infringement or produced a bad tackle.

Speaking in the first episode of the Back of the Net show on Amazon Prime, Crouch said: “What I saw creeping into the game, during my time, was when the captains would go in before the game and speak to the ref.

“To me, they would always be 'ref'. I have grown up with just 'ref'. Now it's like Mike and James. They are all called by their first names. It's all to get them onside.

“I remember Darren Fletcher was good at it. But John Terry was amazing at it. Just getting around the ref. 'Ah, Mike, you alright? How is the family?' All this.

“Unreal. I thought: 'This is disgusting.' He was crawling around the ref.

“And it meant [the ref] would think twice. If he clattered someone in the first minute, he'd get up and say: 'Sorry Mike.' He would then think twice about booking him. It's little things like that.”