Simon Lee Rodger (born 3 October 1971) is an English former 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 ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

from 1989 until 2004. He played the majority of his career with

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, including a number of seasons in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. He also played in the Football League for Manchester City, Stoke City and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, and in non-League football for

Bognor Regis Town Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks',the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently compet ...

and Woking.

Club career

Rodger was born in

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on th ...

and played non-league football with

before he was signed by Palace in 1990 for £1,000. He made his debut for the club, away at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

, at the age of 20 and soon established himself as a vital member of the first team at Selhurst Park. He spent 11 seasons with Palace in what was a decade of instability at the club. They were founding members of the

but were relegated back to Division One in

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

. They gained an instant return in 1993–94 which was followed again by relegation in 1994–95. Promotion was again achieved in 1996–97 through the play-offs, but Rodger spent time out on loan that season at Manchester City (making eight appearances) and Stoke City (making five appearances). Palace then suffered a third relegation from the top-tier in 1997–98. Palace remained in Division One and with Rodger having spent ten years at the club he was given a testimonial against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. In 2002, after his testimonial, Rodger was released by the club and after a short time with Woking, was signed by

Brighton and Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football leag ...

, where he was reunited with former Palace manager Steve Coppell. He finished his League career with Brighton.

Personal life

Rodger is currently not married, but has been married twice

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup,

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leagu ...

Full Members' Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

and UEFA Intertoto Cup.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodger, Simon 1971 births Living people English men's footballers Bognor Regis Town F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Woking F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Sportspeople from Shoreham-by-Sea Men's association football midfielders National League (English football) players