Samuel Richmond Cox (13 April 1924 – 2 August 2015) was a Scottish

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 for Queen's Park,

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

, Dundee, Rangers, East Fife,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

Career

Club

Cox was born in

Darvel Darvel ( sco, Dairvel, gd, Darbhail) is a small town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is at the eastern end of the Irvine Valley and is sometimes referred to as "The Lang Toon" ( en, the Long Town). The town's Latin motto, , means "Not for ou ...

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

and Dundee during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, joined Rangers in 1946 and played in the Scottish Football League when it recommenced play after the war. A defender, Cox made his league debut for Rangers in a 4–2 win over Motherwell 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 Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

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 The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

. He also netted his first goal during the season, scoring in a 2–1 win over

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

at Ibrox. In season 1948–49, Rangers became the first club in Scottish football history to win the treble 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 A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

with Cox featuring in 37 of the 48 matches; however, he missed out on the Scottish Cup final win over

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. 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 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 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 ...

for

and 13 caps for the

. He made his international debut on 23 May 1948 in a 3–0 loss to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

as a late replacement for Billy Campbell whose boots had broken; due to the unexpected change, some records incorrectly attributed this to

Charlie Cox Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in several projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, including lead roles in the television series ''Daredevil'' (201 ...

, 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 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 ...

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. 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