Gershom Cox

Gershom Cox
Personal information
Full name	Gershom Cox
Date of birth	September 1863
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Date of death	November 1918
Place of death	Gravesend, England
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team
–	Excelsior
–	Walsall Town
1888–1892	Aston Villa
–	Willenhall Pickwick
–	Walsall Bruswick
–	Bloxwich Strollers
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gershom Cox (September 1863 - November 1918) was an English professional footballer who played as a full-back for Aston Villa from 1888 to 1893. He made 102 first-team appearances for Aston Villa in all competitions. After his years at Aston Villa he went as Player/Coach for Gravesend in Kent.

Career

Until a chance discovery in 2013, his main claim to fame had been that he scored the first goal in The Football League on the first day of the inaugural season, 1888-89 on 8 September 1888 for Aston Villa against their Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[1]However, Cox's goal was scored into his own net, so is the first recorded "own goal" in the Football league.

As of 2013, Kenny Davenport is regarded as scorer of the first ever Football League goal, scoring for Bolton Wanderers at 3:47pm on 7 September 1888 against Derby County.^[2]

Cox also won an FA Cup runners-up medal, appearing for Aston Villa in the 1892 final. Villa lost to West Bromwich Albion.

Honours

Aston Villa

FA Cup runners-up: 1892

References

^ "Come in number 500,000: Landmark day in history of the Football League". The Independent. London. 8 August 2006.
^ Football (25 July 2013). "Bolton and England inside forward Kenyon Davenport finally credited with scoring Football League's first goal". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

External links

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[1] "Come in number 500,000: Landmark day in history of the Football League". The Independent. London. 8 August 2006.

[firstleaguegoalother-2] Football (25 July 2013). "Bolton and England inside forward Kenyon Davenport finally credited with scoring Football League's first goal". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

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