Neil Fox

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 4 May 1939) is an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer and

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed in the 1970s and 1980s. A left-footed

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

-kicking , he set rugby league's all-time points record, scoring 6,220 points during his career. The brother of fellow rugby league players,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Don Fox Donald Fox (15 October 1935 – 21 August 2008), was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Yorkshire, and at clu ...

, Neil played for Yorkshire sides such as;

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

( Heritage No. 629) (two spells),

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

( Heritage No.) (two spells),

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

( Heritage No.),

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, Bramley and

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

Background

Fox was born in

Sharlston Sharlston is a village and civil parish situated east of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, and includes the settlements of Old Sharlston, Sharlston Common and New Sharlston. Its population at the 2001 census was 2,756, reducing to 2,663 at ...

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 ...

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 ...

. He grew up supporting

, and went on to sign for

at 16 years of age. Many believed he would follow in his elder brother

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

's footsteps and sign for

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

Playing career

1950s

In 1956, Fox became the joint fifth youngest player to make his début for

, aged 16 years and 3 months. Fox was selected for Yorkshire County XIII whilst at

during the 1958–59 and 1959–60 seasons. Fox played as a left- in Wakefield Trinity's 17–12 victory over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in a

1956–57 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1956–57 Kangaroo tour was the ninth Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Great Britain and France and played twenty-eight matches, including the Ashes series of three Test matches against Great Brit ...

match at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

on Monday 10 December 1956. Fox scored 2

s in Wakefield Trinity's 20–24 defeat by

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in the

1958–59 Yorkshire Cup The 1958 Yorkshire Cup was the fifty-first occasion on which the competition had been held. Leeds won the trophy by beating Wakefield Trinity by the score of 24-20. Background This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new ...

Final at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

on Saturday 18 October 1958 during the 1958–59 season. He made his international début in 1959, playing for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

1960s

Fox played left-, i.e. number 4, and scored two tries, and 7

s in Wakefield Trinity's 38–5 victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the 1959–60 Challenge Cup Final 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 14 May 1960 in front of a crowd of 79,773. This was a new record for most points in a Challenge Cup Final. This feat was equalled by

Iestyn Harris Iestyn Rhys Harris (born 25 June 1976), also known by the nickname of "Welsh Wizard", is a former dual-code international professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, and coach in rugby league in the ...

(1 try and 8 goals) in

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

' victory over the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

in the 1999

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final. The next week, Fox played as a left- in Wakefield Trinity's 3–27 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

in the 1959–60 Championship final at Odsal Stadium on Saturday 21 May 1960. Fox played , and scored two tries and two goals, in the 16–10 victory over

in the 1960–61 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1960–61 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Rugby Stadium,

on Saturday 29 October 1960. The following year, he again played left-, i.e. number 4, and scored 5 goals, in the 19–9 victory over Leeds in the 1961–62 Yorkshire Cup Final at Odsal Stadium on Saturday 11 November 1961. Fox won the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...

as man of the match in the

1961–62 Challenge Cup The 1961–62 Challenge Cup was the 61st staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First Round Second Round Quarter Finals Semi Finals Final Wakefield Trinity beat Huddersfield 12-6 in the Challenge Cup Fi ...

Final. He scored a try and kicked 3 drop-goals in the 12–6 victory over Huddersfield at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 12 May 1962, in front of a crowd of 81,263. In 1962, Fox played in his only appearance for

. Fox played as a left-, and scored 5 goals in the 25–10 victory over

in the 1962–63 Challenge Cup Final on Saturday 11 May 1963, in front of a crowd of 84,492. Fox played as a left- and scored 2 tries and 3 goals in the 18–2 victory over Leeds in the 1964–65 Yorkshire Cup Final at Fartown,

on Saturday 31 October 1964. Fox played left-, i.e. number 4, and scored 3 goals in the 21–9 victory over St. Helens in the 1966-67 Championship Final replay during the 1966–67 season at Station Road, Swinton on Wednesday 10 May 1967, scored a try and 2 goals the 17–10 victory over

in 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 ...

Final during the 1967-68 season at

Rugby Stadium,

on Saturday 4 May 1968.Hoole, Les (2004). ''Wakefield Trinity RLFC - FIFTY GREAT GAMES''. Breedon Books. 1968 was the final year Fox played for Yorkshire, having made 17 appearances since his début in 1958. Off the field, circa-1968, Fox owned a Turf accountant's business in

Goldthorpe Goldthorpe is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was anciently a small medieval farming village, Goldthorpe is recorded in the ''Domesday Boo ...

. He left Wakefield Trinity for the first time in 1969, joining

. In 1969 he played in his final international match for Great Britain.

1970s

Fox returned to Wakefield Trinity in 1970, where he moved to and became the coach. He scored a goal in Wakefield Trinity's 11–22 defeat by Halifax in the 1971–72 Player's No.6 Trophy Final at Odsal Stadium on Saturday 22 January 1972. Fox coached Wakefield Trinity to a 2–7 defeat by Leeds in the 1973–74 Yorkshire Cup Final at Odsal Stadium on Saturday 20 October 1973. He played second row in Wakefield Trinity's 13–16 loss to Hull in the 1974–75 Yorkshire Cup Final at

Rugby Stadium,

on Saturday 26 October 1974. He was substituted during the match, despite scoring 2 goals. For the 1974–75 season, Fox joined

. He won the

White Rose Trophy The RFL Yorkshire Cup is a rugby league county cup competition for teams in Yorkshire. Starting in 1905 the competition ran, with the exception of 1915 to 1918, until the 1992–93 season, when it folded due to fixture congestion. In 2019, th ...

as man of the match in Hull KR's 11–15 defeat by Leeds in the 1975–76 Yorkshire Cup on Saturday 15 November 1975. Playing at right second row, Fox scored a try and kicked two goals during the match at Odsal Stadium. Fox then briefly joined

in 1976, before playing with Bramley in 1976–77. He then spent the 1977–78 season with Huddersfield before rejoining Bradford Northern. During the 1978–79 season, Fox played as a , and scored 3 goals in Bradford Northern's 18–8 victory over York in the 1978–79 Yorkshire Cup Final at

Rugby Stadium,

on Saturday 28 October 1978. Fox holds the most goals in

RFL Yorkshire Cup The RFL Yorkshire Cup is a rugby league county cup competition for teams in Yorkshire. Starting in 1905 the competition ran, with the exception of 1915 to 1918, until the 1992–93 season, when it folded due to fixture congestion. In 2019, th ...

Finals with 19, and the most points with 53 points. Fox, Alex Murphy and Mark Forster are the only British rugby league footballers to have had two

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

es. Fox's were both at Wakefield Trinity, in 1966 and 1979. He was

Huddersfield Underbank Rangers Underbank Rangers are a rugby league team based in Holmfirth near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They play in the Premier Division of the National Conference League. The club also competes in the Yorkshire Men's League.Underbank are the second ol ...

, and achieved a Holliday Cup and promotion double in 1981–82. Fox retired with the record for most points scored in Anglo-Australian test match history until overtaken by

Mal Meninga Malcolm Norman Meninga (; born 8 July 1960) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Australian national team and a former professional rugby league footballer. Meninga is widely regarded as one of the fin ...

in 1992.

Drop-goals (field-goals)

Neil Fox appears to have scored no drop-goals (or field-goals as they are currently known in Australasia) for Wakefield Trinity, but prior to the 1974–75 season all goals, whether;

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

, or drop-goals, scored 2-points, consequently prior to this date drop-goals were often not explicitly documented, therefore '0' drop-goals may indicate drop-goals not recorded, rather than no drop-goals scored.

Post playing

In the

1983 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supp ...

, Fox was made a

member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) for his services to rugby league. Fox was inducted into the

Rugby League Hall of Fame The Rugby League Hall of Fame honours the leading players of the sport of rugby league. It was established by the sport's governing body in the UK, the Rugby Football League, in 1988. Players must have been retired for at least five years to be ...

in 1989. On 30 August 2005 Fox, along with

Billy Boston William John Boston, MBE (born 6 August 1934) is a Welsh former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or . Born in Cardiff, Wales, Boston started his career as a rugby union player before joining Wigan in 1953. He spent the next ...

and

Mick Sullivan Michael Sullivan (12 January 1934 – 5 April 2016), also known by the nickname of "Sully", was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1970s. He set the record fo ...

, opened the

Rugby League Heritage Centre The Rugby League Heritage Centre was formerly located in the basement of the George Hotel, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It was the first rugby league heritage museum and was significantly influenced by Sky Sports presenter and former Gr ...

. In 2005 his autobiography was published by London League Publications Ltd. On Thursday 20 August 2009, at a ceremony at

Wheldon Road Wheldon Road (known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship purposes) is the home ground of Castleford Tigers Rugby league Club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. It is on Wheldon Road, just outside Castleford town centre. The record att ...

, the home of

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

, Fox was named as part of the "Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team" and had a bus named after him by

Arriva Yorkshire Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...

. In 2010 he was awarded the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Wakefield. The Wakefield Eastern Relief Road, opened in 2017, was named Neil Fox Way in his honour.Wakefield Council
Council asks residents to name new relief road: Press Release PR 8568
issued 2 June 2017, accessed 6 November 2018

Sources

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Neil Fox at rugbyleaguehistory.comRugby League Cup Final 1960Wakefield Win Cup 1962Rugby League Final 1963
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Neil 1939 births Living people Bradford Bulls players Bramley RLFC players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants coaches Huddersfield Giants players Hull Kingston Rovers players Lance Todd Trophy winners Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Sharlston Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Wakefield Wakefield Trinity players Wakefield Trinity coaches York Wasps players Yorkshire rugby league team players