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Simon Cox (footballer, born 1987)

Footballer (born 1987)

Summary

Footballer (born 1987)

FieldValue
nameSimon Cox
imageFIFA WC-qualification 2014 - Austria vs Ireland 2013-09-10 - Simon Cox 01.JPG
captionCox playing for the Republic of Ireland in 2013
fullnameSimon Richard Cox
birth_date
birth_placeTilehurst, England
height1.80 m
positionStriker
youthyears11996–2005
youthclubs1Reading
years12005–2008clubs1 = Readingcaps1 = 2goals1 = 0
years22006clubs2 = → Brentford (loan)caps2 = 4goals2 = 0
years32006–2007clubs3 = → Brentford (loan)caps3 = 9goals3 = 0
years42007clubs4 = → Northampton Town (loan)caps4 = 8goals4 = 3
years52007–2008clubs5 = → Swindon Town (loan)caps5 = 19goals5 = 8
years62008–2009clubs6 = Swindon Towncaps6 = 62goals6 = 35
years72009–2012clubs7 = West Bromwich Albioncaps7 = 65goals7 = 10
years82012–2014clubs8 = Nottingham Forestcaps8 = 73goals8 = 13
years92014–2016clubs9 = Readingcaps9 = 50goals9 = 9
years102015–2016clubs10 = → Bristol City (loan)caps10 = 4goals10 = 0
years112016–2020clubs11 = Southend Unitedcaps11 = 150goals11 = 43
years122020–2021clubs12 = Western Sydney Wandererscaps12 = 27goals12 = 5
totalcaps473
totalgoals126
nationalyears12011–2014nationalteam1 = Republic of Irelandnationalcaps1 = 30nationalgoals1 = 4

Simon Richard Cox (born 28 April 1987) is a retired professional football player and Republic of Ireland international, who played as a striker.

Cox began his career at Reading. He has also played for Brentford, Northampton Town, Swindon Town, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City. He then returned to Reading for two seasons before his transfer to Southend United on a two-year deal in July 2016. In 2020, Cox joined Western Sydney Wanderers before announcing his retirement in October 2021.

Club career

Early years

Born in the Reading suburb of Tilehurst, he attended Downsway Primary School and Denefield School. Cox joined his home town club, Reading, at the age of nine.

Reading

Cox made his first team debut for Reading on 20 September 2005 in their League Cup victory away at Luton Town, and accepted a professional contract with Reading on 18 November 2005.

On 11 September 2006, Cox went on loan to Brentford. He made five appearances there, including four in League One, before the loan was cut short due to a broken leg suffered against Millwall on 26 September 2006. He resumed his loan with Brentford on 22 November 2006 following his recovery from the broken leg, and returned to Reading on 8 January 2007.

His third loan period of the 2006–07 season started on 22 March 2007. This time he joined fellow Reading loanee Alex Pearce at Northampton Town for a month, which was later extended until the end of the season.

On 4 July 2007, Cox signed a new one-year contract to keep him at Reading for the 2007–08 season. On 16 July 2007, he scored the only goal of a Peace Cup game against five-time French Champions Olympique Lyonnais.

Cox joined Swindon Town in a six-month loan deal on 31 August 2007. On his return from loan he played in the FA Cup fourth round replay against Tottenham Hotspur on 15 January 2008 at the Madejski Stadium, with the new England manager Fabio Capello in the stands. Cox came on to play right wing in the second half.

Swindon Town

On 31 January 2008, Cox moved to Swindon on a full-time basis. The fee was not disclosed, but was thought to be £150,000. The deal was finalised just three hours before the close of the transfer window. He made his debut for Swindon as a permanent signing in a 1–0 defeat away to Huddersfield Town on 9 February 2008. He scored his first goal in the following game, a 3–0 home victory over Cheltenham Town. He went on to score three hat-tricks for Swindon, all away from home, against Hartlepool United, Scunthorpe United and Northampton Town. Cox scored 29 League goals in the 2008–09 season, making him joint top scorer (along with Bristol Rovers' Rickie Lambert) in the top four divisions of English football.

Cox was attracting attention from other clubs, with Swindon expecting bids to come in for the player. Sure enough, in May 2009, Swindon rejected two bids for Cox, one of which was made by Leicester City (the other club being unnamed).

West Bromwich Albion

On 8 July 2009, Cox signed for West Bromwich Albion, on a two-year contract, for an initial fee of £1.5 million. He made his debut for West Brom exactly a month later, in the opening game of the 2009–10 season, a 1–1 draw at home to Newcastle United (replacing Chris Wood in the 81st minute). He scored his first goal for Albion on 26 August; it was the winner in a 4–3 victory over Rotherham United in the League Cup, coming four minutes from the end of extra time. In his first season at West Brom, he made 34 appearances and scored 10 goals, six of which came in a seven game spell between 31 October and 14 December 2009.

In the early weeks of the 2010–11 season, following Albion's promotion, Cox was restricted to two substitute appearances in the Premier League and started only in the League Cup. He scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Manchester City in the third round, and in the fourth round he scored two goals in a 4–1 win over Leicester City. He was rewarded with his first Premier League start in Albion's next game, on 1 November 2010, against Blackpool, but he was substituted in the 12th minute after West Brom had a player sent off. Albion lost the match 2–1. He scored his first Premier League goal against Tottenham Hotspur on 23 April 2011 – an 81st-minute equaliser, just four minutes after replacing Paul Scharner. The goal was featured as one of BBC Match of the Day's goals of the month. Cox started each of Albion's next three Premier League games, taking a more creative position behind the main striker.

During the 2011–12 season, Cox was not a first team regular and, in April 2012, he said he wanted talks with the club about his future in the summer.

Nottingham Forest

On 11 August 2012, Cox joined Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract. The transfer fee was reported to be £2 million. He became Forest's seventh signing in the summer transfer window. Cox scored his first goal for the club in the 1–1 draw away against Huddersfield Town on 21 August 2012. He scored his second goal in a 4–1 defeat in League Cup against Premier League club Wigan Athletic with a strike described by the Daily Express as 'spectacular'.

Cox started the first game of the 2013–14 season against Huddersfield Town, however picked up an injury in the second: a Football League Cup first round win over Hartlepool United.

Return to Reading

On 7 August 2014, Cox was officially unveiled as Reading's first signing of the season. The signing saw him return to the club where he spent his youth and the start of his professional career. He signed for £600,000 on a two-year contract. He scored his first goal for Reading against Huddersfield Town.

On 9 October 2015, Cox joined Championship rivals Bristol City on loan until the beginning of January 2016. On 2 January 2016, following Bristol City's defeat to Reading, they confirmed the Cox had returned to his parent club.

Reading announced on 9 May 2016, that Cox would leave Reading when his contract expired at the end of June 2016.

Southend United

On 16 July 2016, Southend United announced the signing of Cox on a two-year deal after he committed his future to the Shrimpers until at least the summer of 2018.

Southend United's Phil Brown is quoted as saying "Signing someone of Simon's pedigree is fantastic, we have been working long & hard towards this signing and I can't thank the Chairman enough for pushing this through, it's a real coup for the Club".

Cox scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 win away at Sheffield United on 16 August 2016.

On 26 June 2018, he signed a new contract at Southend.

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 16 January 2020, Western Sydney Wanderers signed Cox to play in the A-League, joining on a one-and-a-half-year deal. In early 2020 he failed to score from very close range when Melbourne City FC centre-back Curtis Good made a tackle to block the ball.

On 15 October 2021, Cox announced his retirement from professional football, and his desire to move into coaching and management.

International career

Cox is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland through his Irish-born grandmother. He was first called up to the Republic of Ireland squad by Giovanni Trapattoni on 5 May 2011, as a replacement for Damien Duff. Cox made his international debut on 24 May 2011 in the 2011 Nations Cup game against Northern Ireland, when he scored the fifth goal in a 5–0 victory. He went on to win four caps in the next two weeks, and scored his second international goal in a 2–0 friendly defeat of Italy in Liège on 7 June 2011. On 11 October 2011, he played and received the "Man of the Match" award in the game against Armenia, helping secure his team a place in the play-offs for UEFA Euro 2012. While there was some controversy over his goal,replays clearly showed the ball touched his chest and never touched his hands. He scored the equaliser in the 1–1 friendly against the Czech Republic at the Aviva Stadium on 29 February 2012. Cox was selected in Trapattoni's 23-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2012. He scored his fourth goal for Ireland in a 4–0 win over Georgia on 2 June 2013.

Career statistics

Club

ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsTotal204030—90Total81431011538847Total65105395—7918Total73135041—8214Total5095050—609Total15043625011017245Total27500——275Career total473126265287163443141
Reading2005–06Championship202020—60
2006–07Premier League001000—10
2007–08Premier League001010—20
Brentford (loan)2006–07League One130001000140
Northampton Town (loan)2006–07League One8300000083
Swindon Town2007–08League One36140000213815
2008–09League One45291011325032
West Bromwich Albion2009–10Championship2893031—3410
2010–11Premier League1910043—234
2011–12Premier League1802321—224
Nottingham Forest2012–13Championship3951011—416
2013–14Championship3484030—418
Reading2014–15Championship3783030—438
2015–16Championship1312020—171
Bristol City (loan)2015–16Championship400000—40
Southend United2016–17League One44161010405016
2017–18League One42101010304710
2018–19League One45153210205117
2019–20League One192102020242
Western Sydney Wanderers2019–20A-League12300——123
2020–21A-League15200——152

International

National teamYearAppsGoalsTotal304
Republic of Ireland2011102
2012111
201361
201430

:Scores and results list the Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cox goal.

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
124 May 2011Aviva Stadium, Dublin5–05–02011 Nations Cup
27 June 2011Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège2–02–0Friendly
329 February 2012Aviva Stadium, Dublin1–11–1Friendly
42 June 2013Aviva Stadium, Dublin2–04–0Friendly

Honours

Republic of Ireland

  • Nations Cup: 2011

Individual

  • Swindon Town Player of the Season: 2008–09

References

References

  1. "EFL Released and Retained List 2017–18". English Football League.
  2. "Simon Cox". AFS Enterprises.
  3. "Simon Cox: Overview". Premier League.
  4. (16 July 2016). "Simon Cox: Southend United sign former Reading striker – BBC Sport". BBC Sport.
  5. (18 July 2016). "SIGNING – Blues are delighted to announce the signing of Simon Cox – News – Southend United".
  6. (16 July 2016). "Southend United complete signing of Simon Cox {{!}} Echo".
  7. (18 November 2005). "Reading-born Academy forward Simon Cox signs first professional contract". Reading F.C..
  8. "News". Crosfields School.
  9. (11 November 2005). "It's a dream come true – Cox". [[Reading Evening Post]].
  10. (25 July 2006). "Player profiles – Simon Cox". Reading F.C..
  11. (11 September 2006). "Young forward Cox agrees to join Brentford on a month-long loan deal". Reading F.C..
  12. (27 September 2006). "Royals youngster Cox suffers broken leg while playing on loan at Brentford". Reading F.C..
  13. (22 November 2006). "Young Royals forward Cox rejoins Brentford on loan deal until January". Reading F.C..
  14. (22 March 2007). "Cox and Henry complete loan moves". Reading F.C..
  15. (23 April 2007). "Cox extends Northampton loan deal after scoring his third Cobblers goal". Reading F.C..
  16. (4 July 2007). "Four new contracts agreed". Reading F.C..
  17. (31 August 2007). "Cox, Sodje & Stack agree loans". Reading F.C..
  18. (16 January 2008). "Verdict on Federici, Cox, Pearce & Lita". Reading F.C..
  19. (1 February 2008). "Cox signs for Swindon". Reading F.C..
  20. getreading. (15 February 2008). "Robins' new star had to fly the nest".
  21. (9 February 2008). "Huddersfield 1–0 Swindon". BBC Sport.
  22. (12 February 2008). "Swindon 3–0 Cheltenham". BBC Sport.
  23. (3 October 2008). "Hartlepool 3–3 Swindon". BBC Sport.
  24. (1 November 2008). "Scunthorpe 3–3 Swindon". BBC Sport.
  25. (24 March 2009). "Northampton 3–4 Swindon". BBC Sport.
  26. (8 May 2009). "Swindon prepared for Cox offers". BBC Sport.
  27. (14 May 2009). "Swindon reject two bids for Cox". BBC Sport.
  28. (8 July 2009). "Cox completes move to West Brom". BBC Sport.
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  30. (26 August 2009). "West Brom 4 – 3 Rotherham". BBC Sport.
  31. (2 December 2010). "West Bromwich Albion – Match – Report – 22 September 2010, West Brom 2 – 1 Manchester City".
  32. (1 January 2011). "West Bromwich Albion – Match – Report – 26 October 2010, Leicester 1 – 4 West Brom".
  33. (7 December 2010). "West Bromwich Albion – Match – Report – 01 November 2010, Blackpool 2 – 1 West Brom".
  34. (27 August 2011). "West Bromwich Albion – Match – Report – 23 April 2011, Tottenham 2 – 2 West Brom".
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  36. (18 April 2012). "Striker Simon Cox plans to discuss his future with West Brom. His cause was helped somewhat after scoring an absolute Worley against Mike Kay with a shot through his legs, an area Mike had in all fairness been beaten from many times before. Simon did cause the young keeper to seek professional lessons from one, Richard 'from Barnsley' Jane to help keep his place in the side which was heavily under threat.". Liverpool Echo.
  37. Nicholson, Fraser. (14 August 2012). "Seventh Heaven". Nottingham Forest F.C..
  38. (21 August 2012). "'Mr Cool' Rhodes earns praise". British Sky Broadcasting.
  39. Woodcock, Ian. (21 August 2012). "Huddersfield 1–1 Nott'm Forest". BBC Sport.
  40. (28 August 2012). "Nott'm Forest 1-4 Wigan". BBC Sport.
  41. (29 August 2012). "Bobby Zamora show boosts QPR". Northern & Shell.
  42. Lambell, Ashley. (9 August 2013). "Cox Out Of Ewood Trip". Nottingham Forest F.C..
  43. "Cox seals Royals return". [[Reading F.C.]].
  44. (9 October 2015). "Cox joins Robins on loan". Reading F.C..
  45. (2 January 2016). "Cotterill rues last-gasp goal". [[Bristol City F.C.]].
  46. (9 May 2016). "Trio set to depart Royals ranks". Reading F.C..
  47. (16 June 2018). "Simon Cox Signs New Deal!". [[Southend United F.C..
  48. (16 January 2020). "Wanderers sign Simon Cox".
  49. (14 March 2020). "Locura en Australia: ¿pifia del año o robo milagroso del central?". Marca.
  50. (15 March 2020). "A-League: Simon Cox's Stunning Open-Goal Miss".
  51. Casey, Gavan. (15 October 2021). "Former Ireland international striker Simon Cox retires from football". [[The42]].
  52. "Simon Cox {{!}} Football Association of Ireland".
  53. (24 May 2011). "Rep of Ireland 5–0 N Ireland". BBC Sport.
  54. (7 June 2011). "Cox completes shock win".
  55. Jackson, Lyle. (7 June 2011). "Italy 0–2 Republic of Ireland". BBC Sport.
  56. (11 October 2011). "Cox hails team-mates as 'heroes' after Republic win". BBC Sport.
  57. Wright, Rob. (29 February 2012). "As it happened: Rep Ireland 1–1 Czech Rep". Raidió Teilifís Éireann.
  58. (8 May 2012). "Euro 2012 squad". irishtimes.com.
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  65. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2011
  66. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2012
  67. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2013
  68. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2014
  69. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2015
  70. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2016
  71. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2017
  72. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2018
  73. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2019
  74. {{soccerbase season. 42170. 2020
  75. {{NFT player. 43339
  76. (24 May 2011). "Rep of Ireland 5–0 Northern Ireland". RTE.
  77. (7 June 2011). "Republic of Ireland 2–0 Italy". RTE.
  78. (29 February 2012). "Republic of Ireland 1–1 Czech Republic". RTE.
  79. Press Association. (2 June 2013). "Robbie Keane double eases Republic of Ireland past 10-man Georgia".
  80. Murray, Ewan. (29 May 2011). "Robbie Keane earns Ireland deciding win over Scotland in Nations Cup". The Guardian.
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