Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Donald Fox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1935-10-15)15 October 1935 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 21 August 2008(2008-08-21) (aged 72) Wakefield, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Scrum-half, Prop, Loose forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Father | Tom Fox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Neil Fox (brother) Peter Fox (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Donald Fox (15 October 1935 – 21 August 2008), was an Englishrugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, andcoached in the 1970s. He played at representative level forGreat Britain,England andYorkshire, and at club level forFeatherstone Rovers (captain) andWakefield Trinity, as a right-footed goal-kickingscrum-half, prop orloose forward, and coached at club level forBatley.
Don Fox was born inSharlston, nearWakefield,West Riding of Yorkshire,England. He was the younger brother ofPeter, and the older brother ofNeil Fox, and together they formed one of the legendary rugby league families.
Don Fox earned his début for Featherstone Rovers as ascrum-half on Wednesday 9 September 1953. A gifted player, he broke Featherstone Rovers' record points scored in a season, the next winter and was called up for England's game against France. He was an outstanding kicker, scoring 12 goals in aChallenge Cup victory againstStanningley ARLFC in 1964.
Don Fox playedscrum-half, and scored atry inFeatherstone Rovers' 15–14 victory overHull F.C. in the1959–60 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1959–60 season atHeadingley,Leeds on Saturday 31 October 1959, and playedscrum-half inFeatherstone Rovers' 0–10 defeat byHalifax in the1963–64 Yorkshire Cup Final during the1963–64 season atBelle Vue,Wakefield on Saturday 2 November 1963.
Don Fox'sbenefitseason/testimonial match atFeatherstone Rovers took place during the1963–64 season.
Don holds Featherstone Rovers record for tries scored (162) and is third on their all-time goal-kicking charts with 503 in 369 appearances, itself the 7th most in Featherstone Rovers' history,[4] having enjoyed 13 years atFeatherstone Rovers.[5] Don Fox is a Featherstone Rovers Hall of Fame inductee.[6]
He joined Wakefield in 1965 for a fee of £3,000,[7] linking up with his younger brother Neil, where they enjoyed great success with Wakefield Trinity. After he retired from playing in 1970, hecoachedBatley from November 1972 to October 1974, before becoming a safety-joiner in theSouth Yorkshire coalfield. He died in a hospital inWakefield,West Yorkshire, England.[8]
Fox playedloose forward inWakefield Trinity's 21–9 victory overSt. Helens in theChampionship Finalreplay during the1966–67 season atStation Road, Swinton on Wednesday 10 May 1967, and played atprop, and scored agoal in the 17–10 victory overHull Kingston Rovers in theChampionship Final during the1967–68 season atHeadingley,Leeds on Saturday 4 May 1968.[9]
Don Fox played atprop, and scored twoconversions inWakefield Trinity's 10–11 defeat byLeeds in the1967–68 Challenge Cup "Watersplash" Final during the1967–68 season atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 11 May 1968, in front of a crowd of 87,100.[9] The match was played on awaterlogged pitch and the score was 11–7 to Leeds whenKen Hirst scored atry under the posts for Wakefield Trinity with the final play of the game. Tries were worth three points at that time, making the score 11–10, but a simple 2-pointconversion was all that was needed to give Wakefield an unassailable one-point lead, and win the game. Wakefield Trinity fans were jubilant as the conversion from in front of the posts is by far the easiest kick in rugby league. Fox had already scored two more difficultconversions in the game, and he was such a prolific kicker that it realistically should have presented no problem. However, thewaterlogged state of the pitch made this a more difficult proposition, and Fox lost his footing and sliced the ball wide of the posts. The final whistle was blown immediately afterwards, giving Leeds a dramatic one-point victory. CommentatorEddie Waring said of Fox, 'He's a poor lad', a remark which became a widely quoted piece of commentary.[10] Fox had already been chosen to win theLance Todd Trophy for his performance in the match, but he was disconsolate and trudged off the pitch. Interviewed byDavid Coleman on television later, he was asked if the trophy was any consolation and replied "not really, no".[11] The boots he was wearing during the game are now on display atWakefield Museum.
Fox representedGreat Britain while at Featherstone Rovers in 1956 against France (1 non-Test match),[12] and he was selected forGreat Britain while at Featherstone Rovers for the1962 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand.[13]
Don Fox was understudy toAlex Murphy on the 1962 Lions tour. He later moved toloose forward, where he earned his sole Testcap for Great Britain against Australia in 1963, scoring one try and two goals in a 16–5 win.[1]
Fox won one cap forEngland, during the1955-56 European Rugby League Championship, vFrance on 10 May 1956; France won 23–9.
Don Fox woncaps forYorkshire while atFeatherstone Rovers; during the1956–57 season againstCumberland andLancashire, and during the1958–59 season against and Lancashire, he also won acap(s) for Yorkshire while at Wakefield Trinity.