Russell "Russ" Wilcox (born 25 March 1964) 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 ...

who is currently manager of Farsley Celtic. Wilcox played as a defender between 1980 and 2003 and spent the final six years of his career with

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

which is where he began working under

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

. Wilcox would act as Laws' assistant at

Glanford Park Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the current home of team Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, it was the first new purpose-built Football League stad ...

from 2003 to 2006 before following him on to further jobs at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

. The pair returned to Scunthorpe in 2012 and in November 2013 Wilcox succeeded Laws as manager of the club, taking Scunthorpe to promotion. A poor start to the following year's campaign saw Wilcox sacked from Scunthorpe and he was then recruited by

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. Another poor start to a season saw Wilcox sacked by York City in October 2015. Wilcox came back to Scunthorpe again as the caretaker manager until the end of the 2019–20 season following the dismissal of

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...

Club career

Wilcox was born in

Hemsworth Hemsworth is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire and had a population of 13,311 at the 2001 census, with it increasing to 13,533 at the 2011 Census. Histor ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. He started his career with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at T ...

as an apprentice, and made his

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

debut aged 17 when starting the last match of their 1980–81 Fourth Division

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

winning season, a 1–1 away draw with

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and y ...

on 6 May 1981. His progress the following season was disrupted through injury, and he left for a brief spell with

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

of the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Wilcox dropped into

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 s ...

to play for

Alliance Premier League The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

club Frickley Athletic during 1982–83. He returned to the professional game when he joined Fourth Division club

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland L ...

for a £15,000 fee on 30 June 1986. He later played for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

and

. He played the majority of his career at Scunthorpe, where he was signed by

in 1997. He eventually became player-assistant manager to Laws in 1999 after the win at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in the play-off final against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profes ...

International career

Wilcox earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and scored one goal for the England national semi-pro team, in matches against the Republic of Ireland and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 1986.

Coaching and managerial career

When Brian Laws was sacked in 2004, Wilcox took temporary control of the

club for four games, until Laws was reinstated. When Laws returned to the club, Wilcox reverted to his original role of assistant manager. In 2006, Laws left Scunthorpe when he was appointed manager of

, Wilcox shortly followed him to take up the assistant manager's role at

Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a 39,732-capacity association football stadium located in Owlerton, a north-western suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. It has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since its opening in 1899. The ground has been s ...

. On 13 January 2010, he joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

as assistant manager, yet again moving to work under Brian Laws. He left Burnley in December 2010. On 30 November 2011 at a fans forum, Wilcox was named as the new assistant manager of League One club AFC Bournemouth, working alongside manager

Lee Bradbury Lee Michael Bradbury (born 3 July 1975) is an English football manager and former footballer who is currently manager of National League club Eastleigh. As a player, he was a striker who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League wi ...

. On 30 October 2012 he and Laws returned to manage League One side Scunthorpe United replacing former manager

Alan Knill Alan Richard Knill (born 8 October 1964) is a professional football manager and former player, who is a coach for the Wales national team. He played as a centre-back for several clubs, spending the most time at Halifax Town, Bury and Scuntho ...

who was sacked following a string of poor results and poor performances. This will be the third time he and Brian Laws have worked together at Scunthorpe. Laws was dismissed on 20 November 2013 with Wilcox taking over on a caretaker basis. On 24 December 2013 Wilcox was confirmed as permanent manager of the club on a 12-month rolling contract. On 12 April 2014, Wilcox broke the record for the longest unbeaten run at the beginning of a managerial reign, with a draw against Bury being his 26th game in charge without defeat. In total, Wilcox managed 28 consecutive games without defeat, with his first loss coming in the penultimate game of the season on 26 April 2014 away to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. Results elsewhere meant that Scunthorpe secured promotion on that day regardless. Scunthorpe won just two of their first eleven matches back in League One, which resulted in Wilcox being sacked on 8 October 2014. A week after leaving Scunthorpe Wilcox was appointed as the new manager of League Two club

on 15 October 2014, following the resignation of

Nigel Worthington Nigel Worthington (born 4 November 1961) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of York City. He played a defender and a midfielder, playing his club football for Ballymena United, Notts Count ...

. He was sacked on 26 October 2015, with York fourth-bottom of the table after a run of nine league matches without a win. After the departure of

in January 2020, Wilcox was appointed caretaker manager, and remained until the end of the season. He was appointed manager of Farsley Celtic in February 2022.

Personal life

His son Joe Wilcox, born 1989, is a former professional footballer, who was a trainee at Scunthorpe United before playing in non-League football.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Northampton Town *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name i ...

: 1986–87 Preston North End *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

: 1995–96 Scunthorpe United * Football League Third Division play-offs:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilcox, Russ 1964 births Living people People from Hemsworth English footballers England semi-pro international footballers Association football defenders Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Frickley Athletic F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Scunthorpe United F.C. managers York City F.C. managers English Football League managers Association football coaches Scunthorpe United F.C. non-playing staff Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff Burnley F.C. non-playing staff AFC Bournemouth non-playing staff Doncaster Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Farsley Celtic F.C. managers