PETER CROUCH has revealed his career "finished" when he was too busy playing Call of Duty to realise his wife was locked out of the house.
The ex-Tottenham and Liverpool striker, who is now a pundit for TNT Sports told the hilarious tale which ended with Abbey Clancy fuming as he gamed with 12-year-olds.
Crouch announced his retirement in 2019 at the age of 38 after a long and memorable career.
He has since been enjoying gaming in his down time - along with plenty of other projects.
The former England ace told of the moment he was left considering hanging up his boots after a session on the popular shooting game Call of Duty infuriated Abbey.
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He told Chris Moyles on Radio X: "My career finished when Abb was locked out the house and I was playing Call of Duty.
"I had the headphones on and the mic and she was locked out the house and I had no idea.
"I was telling people to 'get down! Frag out!' And she's been outside for ages banging on the door. She's gone to the neighbours and they let them in.
"And I'm still in there, dark room, full headphones on, telling 12-year-olds to get down and cover me.
"The look she gave me was like 'you loser!' And that look was the moment I thought I better leave this."
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Crouch has had a productive time since retirement from football.
Along with his work for TNT Sports, he fronts the regular popular podcast "That Peter Crouch Podcast".
He also became a judge on the ITV shows The Masked Dancer and The Masked Singer.