Cox Jack Image 3 Liverpool 1905

Description

Liverpool born outside left Jack Cox began his football career with South Shore Standard in 1895 and played for South Shore in 1896 before joining Second Division Blackpool in 1897, making his Football League debut at Gainsborough Trinity that October. After 12 goals in 18 appearances for The Seasiders, he was signed by First Division hometown club Liverpool for £150 in February 1898, scoring on his debut for The Reds in a 2-0 win over Notts County the following month. In his first full season at Liverpool he played in the 1899 FA Cup semi final, scoring in the replay with Sheffield United to put Liverpool 4-2 ahead, however the match at Burnden Park finished 4-4 before The Blades won the second replay 1-0 at The Baseball Ground, as Liverpool also finished runners up in the League to Aston Villa. Two seasons later he was a key member of Liverpool’s first League Championship winning team in 1900-01, missing only two games and scoring 10 goals during the campaign.

He made his England debut in a 3-0 win over Ireland at The Dell in March 1901, and he played in the abandoned Ibrox Disaster match against Scotland a year later, when 25 people were killed and hundreds injured in a stand collapse. He then won his second cap in the replayed match, a 2-2 draw at Villa Park in May 1902. His final cap was also awarded against Scotland, in a 2-1 defeat at Bramall Lane in April 1903. He also made three appearances for The Football League.

Despite a fifth place finish in 1902-03, and Cox’s 10 goals in their 1903-04 campaign, Liverpool were relegated at the end of the season. Cox then signed for Fulham on 10th May 1904, despite Liverpool offering him the maximum wage, a house in Blackpool and a season’s rail ticket, but the reason for the transfer, according to Cox, was so he could be near his girlfriend in London, however his papers were cancelled by the Football Association, as it was insufficient reasoning, he eventually re-signed for Liverpool on 29th June 1904. He then scored 10 goals in their 1904-05 campaign with ended with the Second Division Championship, and a further 8 goals as Liverpool won the League Championship in 1905-06, and played as Liverpool won the Sheriff of London Charity Shield beating The Corinthians 5-1 at Craven Cottage before the end of the season.

He remained a regular in the Liverpool first team for three more seasons, before he became the player-manager of Blackpool in August 1909 after having scored 80 goals in 361 appearances for The Reds. He scored a further 6 goals in 70 appearances for The Seasiders and remained their manager through to December 1911, continuing to play for Blackpool before retiring from football at the end of the season.