Arthur Cox (born 14 December 1939 in
Southam
Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's R ...
,
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
) is an English former
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
.
He was unable to become a professional football player as he broke his leg playing in a reserve game for
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
. He spent time coaching at
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
and in Turkey, before he was given his first management position.
Career
Cox started his management career at
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
in 1976 where he stayed for four years before joining
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
. Here he won promotion to the
First Division and introduced future international players such as
Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder between 1979 and 1999.
In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his coun ...
and
Chris Waddle
Christopher Roland Waddle (born 14 December 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. He currently works as a commentator.
Nicknamed "Magic Chris", football journalist Luke Ginnell wrote that Waddle was "widely ackn ...
. He also gave Newcastle a cult hero in
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...
, the former England striker, who joined the club in 1982 and was instrumental in their promotion two years later before retiring.
Cox left Newcastle just after their promotion in 1984 and took over at Derby County, who had just been relegated to the Third Division. He took them to promotion two years later and the following year, 1987, they won the Second Division title to end a seven-year exile from the First Division. In October 1988, he paid a club record £1million for striker
Dean Saunders
Dean Nicholas Saunders (born 21 June 1964) is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer.
As a player, he was a striker in a career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He played for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the 1990s, and s ...
who quickly established himself as one of the best strikers in the English league and along with the likes of defender
Mark Wright saw the Rams emerge as surprise title contenders in the
1988–89 season, though in the end they finished fifth. His other notable acquisitions included goalkeeper
Peter Shilton
Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...
, midfielder
Trevor Hebberd
Trevor Neal Hebberd (born 19 June 1958) is an English retired footballer who played as a midfielder.
Southampton
Born in Winchester, Hampshire, he signed for Southampton on leaving school in 1974 and made his first team debut two years later ...
and winger
Ted McMinn
Kevin Clifton "Ted" McMinn (born 28 September 1962) is a Scottish former association footballer who played as a winger. His nickname is ''The Tin Man''.
Playing career
Early years
Born in Castle Douglas and raised in nearby Dumfries, McMinn ...
.
However, chairman
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster.
Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from N ...
was unwilling to grant Cox further funds to buy top players and this sabotaged their chances of further challenges for honours. In 1991, just after Maxwell sold the club to new owner Brian Fearn, Derby County were relegated and had to sell several key players including Saunders and Wright (who both joined
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
).
However, Pickering's funds enabled Cox to bring in expensive new signings including
Marco Gabbiadini
Marco Gabbiadini (; born 20 January 1968) is an English former footballer whose career lasted 18 years from 1985 to 2003. He played for 12 different clubs, scoring a total of 226 league goals.
Playing career York City
Gabbiadini was born on ...
,
Paul Simpson,
Craig Short
Craig Jonathan Short (born 25 June 1968) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Playing career
Short was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England and after attending Amotherby primary school and Lady L ...
and
Tommy Johnson who were all among the most expensive signings ever made by clubs outside the top flight. Short, for instance, joined Derby in September 1992 from under the noses of Blackburn Rovers, who were competing in the top flight and had just set a national transfer record fee by signing
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...
.
Derby County just missed out on automatic promotion from the Second Division in
1991–92 and their hopes of a place in the new
FA Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
were ended when they lost to eventual promotion winners
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
in the playoff semi finals. However, new owner Pickering had given Cox the money to buy key players such as Johnson, Gabbiadini and Short, which saw Derby begin the
1992–93 season as most people's firm favourites for the new Division One title. However, they could only manage an eighth-place finish – not even enough for the playoffs – and Cox resigned the following October due to "ill health", handing over the reins to his assistant
Roy McFarland
Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England.
Playing career
Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...
.
He was never employed as a manager again, although he was linked with managerial vacancies more than once after leaving Derby – including the
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
job in May 1994 - and he would remain in football in coaching capacities until 2004.
He has also worked as assistant manager at various clubs such as
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
and
Galatasaray
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...
, and often as 'right-hand man' to fellow manager
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...
. The two worked together at
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
and then with the
England national team. Keegan wanted to appoint Cox as England's assistant manager, but the FA would not allow it because he was over 60, so Cox was given a coaching position instead. Cox resigned, along with fellow coach
Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder between 1979 and 1999.
In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his coun ...
, following the departure of Keegan in October 2000.
They linked up again at
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, where Cox was promoted from chief scout to assistant manager in April 2002. He announced his retirement from football in 2004 but later returned as first-team coach with Keegan at Newcastle between January and August 2008, before he retired again.
Managerial statistics
All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches (including friendlies) are included.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Arthur
1939 births
Living people
People from Stratford-on-Avon District
English football managers
Chesterfield F.C. managers
Derby County F.C. managers
Newcastle United F.C. managers
English Football League managers
Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff
Fulham F.C. non-playing staff
Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff