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 lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

from 1989 until 2004. He played the majority of his career with Crystal Palace, including a number of seasons in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, and in

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

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 co ...

and

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

Club career

Rodger was born in

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in the Adur District, Adur district, in the county of West Sussex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 20,547. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to ...

and played non-league football with

before he was signed by

Palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

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. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, at the age of 20 and soon established himself as a vital member of the first team at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

. 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. 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

(making eight appearances) and

(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 In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whe ...

against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

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

, was signed by Brighton and Hove Albion, where he was reunited with former Palace manager

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, Coppell was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed, technical ability and work rate. He won domestic honours with ...

. 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 The Anglo-Italian Cup (, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) was a European football competition. The competition was ...

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

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, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

and

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

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 Footballers from Shoreham-by-Sea Men's association football midfielders National League (English football) players