Ian Gary Cox CM (born 25 March 1971) is a

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

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 le ...

. Cox was most recently joint manager at Whitstable Town, a post he took up in November 2015. He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago national team's squad at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

Playing career

Born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, England, Cox joined

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

from

non-League Non-League football describes 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 specifically used to de ...

side Carshalton Athletic for a fee of £40,000 in 1994. Opportunities were limited and he eventually joined

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

on a free transfer in 1996 having made just a handful of appearances for

. At Palace he scored his first professional goal in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

defeat to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in January 1996. He enjoyed a hugely successful spell at Bournemouth where he played alongside

Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...

, his no-nonsense playing style endeared himself to the fans in a playing spell that included over 170 league appearances. In the 2000–01 season, Cox joined Burnley for £500,000. He notched up over 100 appearances for the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side scoring five goals, before joining Gillingham on a free transfer, in the 2003–04 season. Predominantly a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, Cox can also play in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

. He was named in the

squad for the

and was on the bench against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

in Trinidad and Tobago's first ever games in a World Cup. Cox retired from international football immediately after Trinidad's elimination from the tournament. On 28 March 2008, Cox was released by Gillingham and signed for

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

side and local rivals Maidstone United. Up until the turn of the year Cox was a permanent fixture in Maidstone's starting XI, playing a big part in what was one of the best defences in the league. However, in January 2009, Cox's work as a

prison officer A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...

meant he could no longer commit himself to the club. He did not appear for the Stones in over four months, however he did return in April 2009 to make three more appearances before retiring from football at the end of the season. In August 2013, however, he came out of retirement to play for Whitstable Town, managed by former teammate

Nicky Southall Leslie Nicholas Southall (born 28 January 1972), is an English former professional footballer, who was most recently first team coach at National League South side Dover Athletic. During his time in professional football Southall was a midfie ...

Coaching career

In June 2015, Cox joined

Isthmian League Division One South The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

side

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

as a coach and in November moved to Whitstable Town as joint manager with Wayne Wilson.

Awards

As a member of the Trinidad and Tobago squad that competed at the

in Germany, Cox was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second highest

state decoration A state decoration is an object, such as a medal or the insignia of an Order (distinction), order, that is awarded by a sovereign state to honor the recipient. The term includes: *Civil awards and decorations *Military awards and decorations See ...

of Trinidad and Tobago.

References

External links

*
Ian Cox Stats at neilbrown.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Ian 1971 births Living people Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago through descent Trinidad and Tobago footballers Trinidad and Tobago international footballers Carshalton Athletic F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Burnley F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Whitstable Town F.C. players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Croydon English sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent Premier League players English Football League players British prison officers Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Association football defenders