Walter Cox (born 1863), also credited as William Cox, was a Scottish professional

association 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 played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He played a total of 30 matches in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

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 Bru ...

and Everton.

Playing career

Cox started his career in his native Scotland with Leith Harp before briefly joining

Leith Athletic Leith Athletic Football Club is a football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. They compete in the East of Scotland Football League, Conference A. First team matches are played at Peffermill 3G. The present club considers itse ...

and then

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

side

midway through the 1888–89 season. He was signed to replace Robert Kay, who had just been released by the club. Cox made his Burnley debut on 10 November 1888 at Turf Moor, Burnley and he replaced

Fred Poland Fred Poland was a professional association footballer who played as a centre forward. He was signed by Burnley in April 1888. He had played football in Scotland for Dundee Our Boys. Career Pre-Football League Poland moved to Lancashire from ...

as goalkeeper. The visitors were

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

. Cox played well and made some notable saves in the opening quarter-hour. Burnley took the lead after twenty minutes and only poor finishing prevented Burnley from having a larger lead at half-time. Burnley played well in the second half and got their second goal after 70 minutes. Burnley won 2–0 win and achieved their first clean sheet of the season.Simpson, p. 32 Cox kept his place in the team for the remainder of the season, and he kept

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s in wins against Notts County, Derby County and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. Cox also played in both FA Cup ties played in February 1889. He played 13 League matches and Burnley finished 9th in the League conceding 62 goals in 22 games, the second worst defence that season. However, Cox did improve the defence. In the opening nine games, before Cox was signed, Burnley conceded 38 goals from at a rate of 4.22 goals per game. From Cox making his debut until the end of the season, they conceded 24 goals in 13 games at a rate of 1.84 goals per game. Cox remained the first choice goalkeeper into the 1889–90 season. The Burnley team suffered several heavy defeats while Cox played in goal, including a 1–7 loss away at Blackburn Rovers and a 1–9 defeat to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. Cox played a total of 28 first-team matches for the club, conceding 80 goals during that time. He made his final appearance for Burnley on 4 January 1890 in the 1–4 loss to Derby County. Upon leaving Burnley, Cox signed for Everton. He made his debut for the club on 22 February 1890 in the 3–5 defeat away at

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

. Cox then kept goal in home wins against West Bromwich Albion and Derby County before playing his final game for the club in the final match of the season, a 1–4 loss against West Bromwich Albion. He left Everton in the summer of 1890 and moved into

non-league football 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 ...

with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. Cox played in goal for

in 1891 and Heart of Midlothian later in the 1890s (winning 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 ...

with Hearts in 1894–95). Refers to Cox - playing in goal for Leith Athletic - as "late Leith Harp, Burnley, &c. &c."

References

;General * * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Walter 1863 births Year of death missing Scottish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Hibernian F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Everton F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players English Football League players Football Alliance players