Simon Lee Rodger (born 3 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder from 1989 until 2004. He played the majority of his career with Crystal Palace, including a number of seasons in the Premier League. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and Brighton & Hove Albion, and in

non-League football Non-League football describes 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 specifically used to de ...

for Bognor Regis Town and

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

Club career

Rodger was born in Shoreham-by-Sea and played non-league football with Bognor Regis Town before he was signed by

Palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

in 1990 for £1,000. He made his debut for the club, away at Sheffield Wednesday, 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 which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

. He spent 11 seasons with Palace in what was a decade of instability at the club. They were founding members of the Premier League 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 th ...

. 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, where ...

against Tottenham Hotspur. 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, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

. 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 ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, 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) is a defunct European football c ...

, Football League play-offs, Full Members' Cup, Football League Trophy and

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

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