Luke Rodgers
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luke Rodgers | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Port Vale | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
Luke John Rodgers (born 1 January 1982 in Birmingham, England) is an English professional footballer who plays for English club Port Vale as a striker.
He previously played for Shrewsbury Town, rising through the ranks to break into the first team as a youth player. He scored 73 goals in just under 200 appearances for the Shropshire side in all competition including 20+ in each of two consecutive seasons (2001-02, 2002-03). He turned down Shrewsbury's offer of a one-year contract, and moved to Crewe Alexandra for a tribunal-decided fee after the 2004-05 season. Shrewsbury received £100,000 from the tribunal with two add-ons of £20,000 based on appearances; however, due to his brief spell at Crewe, Shrewsbury only received the first of these.
Despite a good goals-starts ratio at Crewe, he was never a favourite of Dario Gradi and was third choice behind free-scoring Luke Varney and Nicky Maynard at the start of the 2006/07 season. This resulted in him asking for a transfer after reportedly falling out with Gradi and in January 2007 after just 39 appearances and 9 goals, he moved to local rivals Port Vale for £30,000. After Just Three apperances he got injured and only made a total of 10 games but in that time he scored 5 goals. In the pre season friendly matches he has played in all 5 games and scored a total of 7 goals.
External links
- Luke Rodgers at Soccerbase