Paul Leo Henry Rodgers (born 6 October 1989), is an English semi-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 le ...

who most recently played for

Harlow Town Harlow Town Football Club is an English association football, football club based in Harlow, Essex. The club is a former member of the and plays at The Harlow Arena. The club is best known for its exploits in the 1979–80 FA Cup, in which it ...

, until the end of the 2018–19 season. Rodgers plays as a defender, either at

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or full back.

Career

Born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

, Rodgers joined Arsenal in 2005 and was given a professional contract at the start of the 2007–08 season. He originally started out as a full back but has since also played as a centre half and made his Arsenal first-team debut in a friendly against

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in the 2007 pre-season. He made his competitive professional debut in Arsenal's

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

quarter-final against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on 2 December 2008, a match which Arsenal lost 2–0; Rodgers was substituted for

Henri Lansbury Henri George Lansbury (born 12 October 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship side Luton Town. He previously played for Arsenal, where he ascended from the club's academy. Lansbury also had spells ...

after 46 minutes. On 22 January 2009, Arsenal announced he was to go on loan to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

for one month, which was later extended to the end of the season. Having been released by Arsenal in June 2009, Rodgers signed for

after a trial. Rodgers joined Newport County in 2011. On 12 May 2012 he was an unused substitute for Newport in the FA Trophy Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

which Newport lost 2–0 to York City. Rodgers was released by Newport in May 2012 at the end of his contract. Rodgers joined

Billericay Town Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...

in 2012. In February 2013 he signed for them on contract, after a string of impressive performances. In June 2013 Rodgers joined St Neots Town who play in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

Premier Division. Following the release from the club in September 2013, he re-signed for Billericay Town. On 18 June 2014 he switched to

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

, before being sold to

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

for an undisclosed fee in September 2014. He joined

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

in June 2016. In June 2017, Rodgers signed for

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members o ...

. He joined

Kingstonian Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...

on loan in August 2017. In November 2017 the switch was made permanent.

Personal life

Rodgers is the cousin of Haringey Borough striker

Joe Benjamin Joseph Rupert Benjamin (November 4, 1919 – January 26, 1974) was an American jazz bassist. Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Benjamin played with many jazz musicians in a variety of idioms. Early in his career he played in the big bands of Art ...

. They played together at Northampton Town, St Neots Town, Billericay Town, Farnborough and Bishop's Stortford.

References

External links

Paul Rodgers player profile
at ntfc.co.uk *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Paul 1989 births Footballers from Edmonton, London Living people Men's association football fullbacks English men's footballers Arsenal F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players St Neots Town F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Chelmsford City F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players