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Arthur Cox (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Arthur Cox is a former English
football manager
.
Cox has managed a number of clubs including Chesterfield
, Newcastle United
, where he won promotion to the First Division
and introduced future international players such as Peter Beardsley
and Chris Waddle
. He also gave Newcastle a cult hero in Kevin Keegan
, the former England striker, who joined the club in 1982 and was instrumental in their promotion two years later before hanging up his boots.
Curiously, 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
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
, midfielder Trevor Hebberd
and winger Ted McMinn
.
However, chairman Robert Maxwell
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 Lionel Pickering
, Derby County were relegated and had to sell several key players including Saunders and Wright (who both joined Liverpool
).
However, Pickerking's funds enabled Cox to bring in expensive new signings including Marco Gabbiadini
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=40088, Paul Simpson
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=43597, Craig Short
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=43562 and Tommy Johnson
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=41176 who were all among the most expensive signings ever made by clubs outside the top flight. Craig Short, for instance, joined the Rams 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
.
The Rams 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
were ended when they lost to eventual promotion winners Blackburn Rovers
in the playoff semi finals. However, new owner Pickering had given Cox the money to buy key players such as Tommy Johnson
, Marco Gabbiadini
and Craig 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
.
He was never employed as a manager again, although he was linked with managerial vacancies more than once after leaving Derby - including the Middlesbrough
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
and Galatasaray
, and often as 'right-hand man' to fellow manager Kevin Keegan
. The two worked together at Fulham
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
, following the departure of Keegan in October 2000.
They linked up again at Manchester City
, 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.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
football manager
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
.
Cox has managed a number of clubs including Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
, Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
, where he won promotion to the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
and introduced future international players such as Peter Beardsley
Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain...
and Chris Waddle
Chris Waddle
Christopher Roland "Chris" Waddle is a former footballer from England. He played for a number of clubs in the 1980s and 90s, including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield Wednesday in England, and Olympique de Marseille in France...
. He also gave Newcastle a cult hero in Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....
, the former England striker, who joined the club in 1982 and was instrumental in their promotion two years later before hanging up his boots.
Curiously, 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 Saunders
Dean Nicholas Saunders is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a professional career which lasted from 1982 until 2001. He is the manager of Doncaster Rovers....
who quickly established himself as one of the best strikers in the English league and along with the likes of defender Mark Wright
Mark Wright
Mark Wright may refer to:*Mark Wright , English footballer and manager*Mark Wright , English footballer...
saw the Rams emerge as surprise title contenders in the 1988–89 season
1988-89 in English football
The 1988–89 season was the 109th season of competitive football in England.-Hillsborough disaster:On 15 April, a crowd crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough killed 94 people and injured more than 300. A 95th Liverpool supporter died in hospital...
, though in the end they finished fifth. His other notable acquisitions included goalkeeper Peter Shilton
Peter Shilton
Peter Leslie Shilton OBE is a former English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently holds the record for playing more games for England than anyone else, earning 125 caps....
, midfielder Trevor Hebberd
Trevor Hebberd
Trevor Neal Hebberd is a retired English footballer who played as a midfielder.-Southampton:He signed for Southampton on leaving school in 1974 and made his first team debut two years later in a 2–2 draw against Hull City at Boothferry Park in the Second Division. He managed 12 league appearances...
and winger Ted McMinn
Ted McMinn
Kevin Clifton "Ted" McMinn is a Scottish former association footballer who played as a winger. His nickname is The Tin Man.-Early years:...
.
However, chairman Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
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 Lionel Pickering
Lionel Pickering
Lionel Victor Pickering was an English businessman, best known as the owner of Derby County F.C. between 1991 and 2003...
, Derby County were relegated and had to sell several key players including Saunders and Wright (who both joined Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
).
However, Pickerking's funds enabled Cox to bring in expensive new signings including Marco Gabbiadini
Marco Gabbiadini
Marco Gabbiadini is an English former footballer whose career lasted 18 years from 1985 to 2003. He totalled nearly £3 million in transfer fees and played for 12 different clubs, scoring a total of 226 league goals.-York City:...
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=40088, Paul Simpson
Paul Simpson (footballer)
Paul David Simpson is an English former footballer and manager. His son Jake is also a professional footballer.-Manchester City:...
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=43597, Craig Short
Craig Short
Craig Jonathan Short is a former football player who played as a central-defender...
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=43562 and Tommy Johnson
Tommy Johnson
Tommy Johnson was an influential American delta blues musician, who recorded in the late 1920s, and was known for his eerie falsetto voice and intricate guitar playing.-Early life:...
http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=41176 who were all among the most expensive signings ever made by clubs outside the top flight. Craig Short, for instance, joined the Rams 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
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...
.
The Rams just missed out on automatic promotion from the Second Division in 1991–92
1991-92 in English football
- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of, among others, Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David Batty, Gary Speed and Gary McAllister...
and their hopes of a place in the new FA Premier League
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
were ended when they lost to eventual promotion winners Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
in the playoff semi finals. However, new owner Pickering had given Cox the money to buy key players such as Tommy Johnson
Tommy Johnson (footballer born 1971)
Thomas "Tommy" Johnson is a retired footballer who played as a striker for clubs including Notts County, Celtic and Aston Villa.-Notts County:...
, Marco Gabbiadini
Marco Gabbiadini
Marco Gabbiadini is an English former footballer whose career lasted 18 years from 1985 to 2003. He totalled nearly £3 million in transfer fees and played for 12 different clubs, scoring a total of 226 league goals.-York City:...
and Craig Short
Craig Short
Craig Jonathan Short is a former football player who played as a central-defender...
, which saw Derby begin the 1992–93 season
1992-93 in English football
The 1992–1993 season was the 113th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:This season saw the birth of the FA Premier League. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions....
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 McFarland
Roy Leslie McFarland is an English football manager who was also a player, notably at Derby County where he played 434 league games helping him to earn 28 caps for England.-Playing career:...
.
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 F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
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 A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
and Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....
, and often as 'right-hand man' to fellow manager Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....
. The two worked together at Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
and then with the England national team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
. 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 Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain...
, following the departure of Keegan in October 2000.
They linked up again at Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
, 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.