 Cox playing for theRepublic of Ireland in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Simon Richard Cox[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1987-04-28)28 April 1987 (age 38)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Tilehurst, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2005 | Reading | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2008 | Reading | 2 | (0) |
| 2006 | →Brentford (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | →Brentford (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2007 | →Northampton Town (loan) | 8 | (3) |
| 2007–2008 | →Swindon Town (loan) | 19 | (8) |
| 2008–2009 | Swindon Town | 62 | (35) |
| 2009–2012 | West Bromwich Albion | 65 | (10) |
| 2012–2014 | Nottingham Forest | 73 | (13) |
| 2014–2016 | Reading | 50 | (9) |
| 2015–2016 | →Bristol City (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2016–2020 | Southend United | 150 | (43) |
| 2020–2021 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 27 | (5) |
| Total | 473 | (126) | |
| International career | |||
| 2011–2014 | Republic of Ireland | 30 | (4) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Simon Richard Cox (born 28 April 1987) is a retired professional football player andRepublic of Ireland international, who played as astriker.
Cox began his career atReading. He has also played forBrentford,Northampton Town,Swindon Town,West Bromwich Albion,Nottingham Forest andBristol City. He then returned to Reading for two seasons before his transfer to Southend United on a two-year deal in July 2016.[4][5][6] In 2020, Cox joinedWestern Sydney Wanderers before announcing his retirement in October 2021.[7]
Born in theReading suburb ofTilehurst,[8] he attended Downsway Primary School[9] andDenefield School.[10] Cox joined his home town club,Reading, at the age of nine.[11]
Cox made hisfirst team debut for Reading on 20 September 2005 in theirLeague Cup victory away atLuton Town,[11] and accepted a professional contract with Reading on 18 November 2005.[8]
On 11 September 2006, Cox went onloan toBrentford.[12] He made five appearances there, including four inLeague One, before the loan was cut short due to a broken leg suffered againstMillwall on 26 September 2006.[13] He resumed his loan with Brentford on 22 November 2006 following his recovery from the broken leg,[14] and returned to Reading on 8 January 2007.[14]
His third loan period of the2006–07 season started on 22 March 2007. This time he joined fellow Reading loaneeAlex Pearce atNorthampton Town for a month,[15] which was later extended until the end of the season.[16]
On 4 July 2007, Cox signed a new one-year contract to keep him at Reading for the2007–08 season.[17] On 16 July 2007, he scored the only goal of aPeace Cup game against five-time French ChampionsOlympique Lyonnais.
Cox joinedSwindon Town in a six-month loan deal on 31 August 2007.[18] On his return from loan he played in theFA Cup fourth round replay againstTottenham Hotspur on 15 January 2008 at theMadejski Stadium, with the newEngland managerFabio Capello in the stands. Cox came on to play right wing in the second half.[19]
On 31 January 2008, Cox moved to Swindon on a full-time basis.[20] The fee was not disclosed, but was thought to be £150,000.[21] The deal was finalised just three hours before the close of the transfer window.[21] He made his debut for Swindon as a permanent signing in a 1–0 defeat away toHuddersfield Town on 9 February 2008.[22] He scored his first goal in the following game, a 3–0 home victory overCheltenham Town.[23] He went on to score threehat-tricks for Swindon, all away from home, againstHartlepool United,[24]Scunthorpe United[25] and Northampton Town.[26] Cox scored 29 League goals in the2008–09 season, making him joint top scorer (along withBristol Rovers'Rickie Lambert) in the top four divisions ofEnglish football.
Cox was attracting attention from other clubs, with Swindon expecting bids to come in for the player.[27] Sure enough, in May 2009, Swindon rejected two bids for Cox, one of which was made byLeicester City (the other club being unnamed).[28]
On 8 July 2009, Cox signed forWest Bromwich Albion, on a two-year contract, for an initial fee of £1.5 million.[29] He made his debut for West Brom exactly a month later, in the opening game of the2009–10 season, a 1–1 draw at home toNewcastle United (replacingChris Wood in the 81st minute).[30] He scored his first goal for Albion on 26 August; it was the winner in a 4–3 victory overRotherham United in the League Cup, coming four minutes from the end of extra time.[31] In his first season at West Brom, he made 34 appearances and scored 10 goals,[30] six of which came in a seven game spell between 31 October and 14 December 2009.
In the early weeks of the 2010–11 season, following Albion's promotion, Cox was restricted to two substitute appearances in thePremier League and started only in the League Cup. He scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory overManchester City in the third round,[32] and in the fourth round he scored two goals in a 4–1 win over Leicester City.[33] He was rewarded with his first Premier League start in Albion's next game, on 1 November 2010, againstBlackpool, but he was substituted in the 12th minute after West Brom had a player sent off. Albion lost the match 2–1.[34] He scored his first Premier League goal against Tottenham Hotspur on 23 April 2011 – an 81st-minute equaliser, just four minutes after replacingPaul Scharner.[35] The goal was featured as one of BBCMatch of the Day's goals of the month. Cox started each of Albion's next three Premier League games,[36] taking a more creative position behind the main striker.
During the 2011–12 season, Cox was not a first team regular and, in April 2012, he said he wanted talks with the club about his future in the summer.[37]
On 11 August 2012, Cox joinedNottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract.[38] The transfer fee was reported to be £2 million.[39] He became Forest's seventh signing in the summer transfer window. Cox scored his first goal for the club in the 1–1 draw away against Huddersfield Town on 21 August 2012.[40] He scored his second goal in a 4–1 defeat in League Cup against Premier League clubWigan Athletic[41] with a strike described by theDaily Express as 'spectacular'.[42]
Cox started the first game of the 2013–14 season against Huddersfield Town, however picked up an injury in the second: a Football League Cup first round win over Hartlepool United.[43]
On 7 August 2014, Cox was officially unveiled as Reading's first signing of the season. The signing saw him return to the club where he spent his youth and the start of his professional career. He signed for £600,000 on a two-year contract.[44] He scored his first goal for Reading against Huddersfield Town.
On 9 October 2015, Cox joined Championship rivalsBristol City on loan until the beginning of January 2016.[45] On 2 January 2016, following Bristol City's defeat to Reading, they confirmed the Cox had returned to his parent club.[46]
Reading announced on 9 May 2016, that Cox would leave Reading when his contract expired at the end of June 2016.[47]
On 16 July 2016,Southend United announced the signing of Cox on a two-year deal after he committed his future to the Shrimpers until at least the summer of 2018.[5]
Southend United's Phil Brown is quoted as saying "Signing someone of Simon's pedigree is fantastic, we have been working long & hard towards this signing and I can't thank the Chairman enough for pushing this through, it's a real coup for the Club".[5]
Cox scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 win away atSheffield United on 16 August 2016.[48]
On 26 June 2018, he signed a new contract at Southend.[49]
On 16 January 2020,Western Sydney Wanderers signed Cox to play in theA-League, joining on a one-and-a-half-year deal.[50] In early 2020 he failed to score from very close range whenMelbourne City FC centre-backCurtis Good made a tackle to block the ball.[51][52]
On 15 October 2021, Cox announced his retirement from professional football, and his desire to move into coaching and management.[7]
Cox is eligible to play for theRepublic of Ireland through his Irish-born grandmother.[53] He was first called up to the Republic of Ireland squad byGiovanni Trapattoni on 5 May 2011, as a replacement forDamien Duff. Cox made his international debut on 24 May 2011 in the2011 Nations Cup game againstNorthern Ireland, when he scored the fifth goal in a 5–0 victory.[54] He went on to win four caps in the next two weeks, and scored his second international goal in a 2–0 friendly defeat ofItaly inLiège on 7 June 2011.[55][56] On 11 October 2011, he played and received the "Man of the Match" award in the game againstArmenia, helping secure his team a place in the play-offs forUEFA Euro 2012. While there was some controversy over his goal,replays clearly showed the ball touched his chest and never touched his hands.[57] He scored the equaliser in the 1–1 friendly against theCzech Republic at the Aviva Stadium on 29 February 2012.[58] Cox was selected in Trapattoni's 23-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2012.[59] He scored his fourth goal for Ireland in a 4–0 win overGeorgia on 2 June 2013.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Reading | 2005–06[60] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| 2006–07[61] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08[62] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Brentford (loan) | 2006–07[61] | League One | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Northampton Town (loan) | 2006–07[61] | League One | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
| Swindon Town | 2007–08[62] | League One | 36 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 1 | 38 | 15 |
| 2008–09[63] | League One | 45 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3[a] | 2 | 50 | 32 | |
| Total | 81 | 43 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 88 | 47 | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | 2009–10[64] | Championship | 28 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 34 | 10 | |
| 2010–11[65] | Premier League | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | — | 23 | 4 | ||
| 2011–12[66] | Premier League | 18 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | 22 | 4 | ||
| Total | 65 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 5 | — | 79 | 18 | |||
| Nottingham Forest | 2012–13[67] | Championship | 39 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 41 | 6 | |
| 2013–14[68] | Championship | 34 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 41 | 8 | ||
| Total | 73 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 82 | 14 | |||
| Reading | 2014–15[69] | Championship | 37 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 8 | |
| 2015–16[70] | Championship | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| Total | 50 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 60 | 9 | |||
| Bristol City (loan) | 2015–16[70] | Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| Southend United | 2016–17[48] | League One | 44 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 50 | 16 |
| 2017–18[71] | League One | 42 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 47 | 10 | |
| 2018–19[72] | League One | 45 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 51 | 17 | |
| 2019–20[73] | League One | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 24 | 2 | |
| Total | 150 | 43 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 172 | 45 | ||
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 2019–20[73] | A-League | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 3 | ||
| 2020–21[74] | A-League | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 2 | |||
| Total | 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 5 | ||||
| Career total | 473 | 126 | 26 | 5 | 28 | 7 | 16 | 3 | 443 | 141 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Republic of Ireland | 2011 | 10 | 2 |
| 2012 | 11 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 4 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1[76] | 24 May 2011 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin |  Northern Ireland | 5–0 | 5–0 | 2011 Nations Cup |
| 2[77] | 7 June 2011 | Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège |  Italy | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 3[78] | 29 February 2012 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin |  Czech Republic | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 4[79] | 2 June 2013 | Aviva Stadium, Dublin |  Georgia | 2–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
Republic of Ireland
Individual
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