Samuel Richmond Cox (13 April 1924 – 2 August 2015) was a Scottish footballer who played for Queen's Park, Third Lanark,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

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, East Fife, Scotland and the Scottish League XI.

Career

Club

Cox was born in Darvel,

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, Scotland. He initially played for Queen's Park,Cox, Samuel Richmond
QPFC.com Third Lanark and

during World War II, joined

in 1946 and played in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

when it recommenced play after the war. A defender, Cox made his league debut for Rangers in a 4–2 win over

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

at the start of the 1946–47 season. He made a total of 13 league appearances in his first season, including a 4–1 win over Hamilton Academical in the last match, as Rangers beat Hibernian to clinch the League title. In the following season, 1947–48, Cox was an ever-present as Rangers finished second to Hibs in the league, but won the Scottish Cup after a 1–0 replay win over Morton. He also netted his first goal during the season, scoring in a 2–1 win over Clyde at Ibrox. In season 1948–49, Rangers became the first club in Scottish football history to win the

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and Cox played an important role, playing in 43 of the 44 matches. Rangers retained the League title in season 1949–50, and Cox was once again an ever-present as Hibernian were edged out by one point. Rangers also retained the Scottish Cup, beating East Fife 3–0 at Hampden. 1950–51 was a disappointment for Rangers as they failed to register a trophy for the first time in five seasons. More disappointment followed as they were once again left trophyless in 1951–52, however Cox continued to be an important member of both the Rangers and Scotland teams. In season 1952–53, Rangers returned to domestic success as they won the League and Cup double with Cox featuring in 37 of the 48 matches; however, he missed out on the Scottish Cup final win over Aberdeen. Cox played in 44 games out of 47 in season 1953–54, however Rangers failed to win a trophy and finished fourth in the League. 1954–55 was his last season at Rangers as he made only 15 first-team appearances. He played his final match for the club in a 2–1 defeat to Aberdeen on 19 February 1955. Cox made a total of 370 appearances for Rangers. After his Rangers career, Cox had a spell with East Fife before emigrating to Canada in 1958. He played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

for Toronto Ulster United in 1958. In 1958, he served as a player-coach for Toronto Sparta and also for Stratford Fischers in 1960. He also played for the Ontario All-Stars against West Bromwich Albion in 1959.

International

Cox won 25 caps for Scotland and 13 caps for the Scottish League XI. He made his international debut on 23 May 1948 in a 3–0 loss to France as a late replacement for

Billy Campbell William Oliver Campbell (born July 7, 1959) is an American film and television actor. He first gained recognition for his recurring role as Luke Fuller in the TV series ''Dynasty''. Then he became known for playing Rick Sammler on '' Once and A ...

whose boots had broken; due to the unexpected change, some records incorrectly attributed this to Charlie Cox, a distant relative who also played at a high standard but never appeared at international level. In 1954 Cox played his last match for Scotland; he captained the team at Hampden in a 4–2 defeat by England in front of 134,544 spectators. He was also related to Jackie Cox (who served Hamilton Academical, among others, as both player and manager).The Game of My Life
Craig Brown, Kings Road Publishing, 2013,

Death

As of 2014, Cox was living in a nursing home in

Stratford, Ontario Stratford is a city on the Avon River within Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a 2016 population of 31,465 in a land area of . Stratford is the seat of Perth County, which was settled by English, Irish, Scottish and German im ...

. He died in August 2015, aged 91 years old, after a short illness.

Career statistics

International appearances

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Sammy 1924 births 2015 deaths Scottish Football League players Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scottish Junior Football Association players Darvel F.C. players Glenafton Athletic F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Third Lanark A.C. players Dundee F.C. players Gordon Highlanders soldiers British Army personnel of World War II Scottish Football League representative players Scotland men's wartime international footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Scottish emigrants to Canada Toronto Ulster United players Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from East Ayrshire Canadian National Soccer League players Canadian National Soccer League coaches People from Darvel