bid of their own rejected, as Quinn persuaded Rodgers to remain in Shropshire. Earlier in the season there was also unconfirmed speculation that Southampton had offered as much as £600,000 for the player. Despite being limited to 26 league starts in 2003–04, he still bagged fifteen goals in his 41 games. He also scored both goals past Barnet in the play-off semi-final aggregate victory that took Shrewsbury into the play-off Final with Aldershot Town at the Britannia Stadium. The final itself went to a penalty shoot-out, and though Rodgers missed his penalty, Town won the match as all three Aldershot penalty-takers missed theirs. In 2004–05, his final season with the "Shrews", he managed just eight goals in forty games. However, he had long become a fan favourite at Gay Meadow as he scored 67 goals in 204 appearances for the Shropshire side in all competitions, also managing four club hat-tricks. Crewe Alexandra Rodgers turned down Shrewsbury's offer of a one-year contract, and was initially linked with a move to SPL high-flyers Hibernian. Instead he moved to Championship club Crewe Alexandra on a two-year contract for a tribunal-decided fee in July 2005. 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. Crewe went on to suffer relegation in 2005–06, and though Rodgers was limited to six goals in his 26 games, he was forced to come off the bench in half of these games. Despite being popular with supporters, 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. Rodgers asked for a transfer to a club that would provide him with regular football, and in January 2007, after just 39 appearances and 9 goals, he moved to local rivals Port Vale for a £30,000 fee. This came after he chose to sign for Vale ahead of Paul Sturrock's Swindon Town, who had also agreed a fee with Crewe; as well as Chester City; and an unnamed League Two club who offered £40,000 for the striker. Port Vale He got injured after just three appearances for the "Valiants" and only played a total of eight games before the end of the season, though still managed to score three goals. His first goal for the club