Simon Cox (footballer born 1987)

For other people of the same name, see Simon Cox (disambiguation).

Simon Cox

Personal information
Full name	Simon Richard Cox
Date of birth	28 April 1987 (1987-04-28)
Place of birth	Reading, England
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	West Bromwich
Number	31
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–	West Bromwich Albion	59	(10)
National team‡
2011–	Republic of Ireland	10	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 February 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2011

Simon Richard Cox (born 28 April 1987) is a footballer who plays as a striker for West Bromwich Albion and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he was part of the team that secured qualification for UEFA Euro 2012.

Cox began his career at Reading. He has also played for Brentford, Northampton Town and Swindon Town before his transfer to West Bromwich. One of his rivals at West Bromwich is his Ireland teammate Shane Long.

Club career

Early years

Born in the Reading suburb of Tilehurst, he attended Downsway Primary School and Denefield School. Cox joined his home town club, Reading, at the age of nine.

Reading

Cox made his first team debut for Reading on 20 September 2005 in their League Cup victory away at Luton Town, and accepted a professional contract with Reading on 18 November 2005.

On 11 September 2006, Cox went on loan to Brentford. He made five appearances there, including four in League One, before the loan was cut short due to a broken leg suffered against Millwall on 26 September 2006. Cox resumed his loan with Brentford on 22 November 2006 following his recovery from the broken leg, and returned to Reading on 8 January 2007.

His third loan period of the 2006–07 season started on 22 March 2007. This time he joined fellow Reading loanee Alex Pearce at Northampton Town for a month, which was later extended until the end of the season.

On 4 July 2007, Cox signed a new one-year contract to keep him at Reading for the 2007–08 season. On 16 July 2007 Cox scored the only goal of a Peace Cup game against five-time French Champions Olympique Lyonnais.

Cox joined Swindon Town in a six month loan deal on 31 August 2007. On his return from loan he played in the FA Cup fourth round replay against Tottenham Hotspur on 15 January 2008 at the Madejski Stadium, with the new England manager Fabio Capello in the stands. Cox came on to play right wing in the second half.

Swindon Town

On 31 January 2008, Cox moved to Swindon on a full-time basis. The fee was not disclosed, but was thought to be in excess of £200,000. The deal was finalised just three hours before the close of the transfer window.^{[citation needed]} Swindon fought off interest from Northampton Town^{[citation needed]}, also of League One, who for long periods seemed more likely to sign the striker.^{[citation needed]}

Cox made his debut for Swindon as a permanent signing in a 1–0 defeat away to Huddersfield Town on 9 February 2008,. He scored his first goal in the following game, a 3–0 home victory over Cheltenham Town. He went on to score three hat-tricks for Swindon, all away from home, against Hartlepool United, Scunthorpe United and Northampton Town. Cox scored 29 League goals in the 2008–09 season, making him joint top scorer (along with Bristol Rovers' Rickie Lambert) in the top four divisions of English football.

Swindon rejected two bids for Cox in May 2009, one of which was made by Leicester City (the other club being unnamed).

West Bromwich Albion

On 8 July 2009 he signed for West Bromwich Albion, on a two-year contract, for an initial fee of £1.5 million. He made his debut for West Brom exactly a month later, in the opening game of the 2009-10 season, a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle United (replacing Chris Wood in the 81st minute). He scored his first goal for Albion on 26 August; it was the winner in a 4-3 victory over Rotherham United in the Carling Cup, coming four minutes from the end of extra time.

In his first season at West Brom he made 34 appearances and scored 10 goals.

In the early weeks of the 2010-11 season, following Albion's promotion, Cox was restricted to two substitute appearances in the Premier League and started only in the Carling Cup. He scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the third round, and in the fourth round he scored two goals in a 4-1 win over Leicester City. He was rewarded with his first Premier League start in Albion's next game, on 1 November 2010, against Blackpool, but he was substituted in the 12th minute after West Brom had a player sent off. Albion lost the match 2–1. He scored his first Premier League goal against Tottenham Hotspur on 23 of April 2011 -- an 81st-minute equaliser, just four minutes after replacing Paul Scharner. The goal was featured as one of BBC Match of the Day's goals of the month. Cox started each of Albion's next three Premier League games, taking a more creative position behind the main striker.

International career

Cox is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland through his Irish-born grandmother. He was first called up to the Republic of Ireland squad by Giovanni Trapattoni on 5 May 2011, as a replacement for Damien Duff. Cox made his international debut on 24 May 2011 in the 2011 Nations Cup game against Northern Ireland, when he scored the fifth goal in a 5-0 victory. He went on to win four caps in the next two weeks, and scored his second international goal in a 2-0 friendly defeat of Italy in Liège on 7 June 2011. On 11 October 2011, he played and received the "Man of the Match" award in the game against Armenia, helping secure his team a place in the play-offs for UEFA Euro 2012.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	24 May 2011	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	Northern Ireland	5–0	5-0	2011 Nations Cup
2.	7 June 2011	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège, Belgium	Italy	0–2	0–2	Friendly

External links

• Cox profile at the West Bromwich Albion website
• Simon Cox career stats at Soccerbase
• Simon Cox profile at Premier League
• Simon Cox profile at BBC Sport