Paul Cox (footballer)

Paul Richard Cox (born 6 January 1972) is an English football manager who was previously a professional footballer. In an eleven-year career as a player, Cox played in the Football League with his hometown club Notts County before playing in non-league football with several clubs, most notably Kettering Town. Cox moved into coaching at Eastwood Town in 2003, becoming the manager in 2005. He won the Northern Premier League in 2008–09, and left the club for Mansfield Town in 2011, with whom he won the Conference Premier in 2012–13, before leaving in November 2014. He later managed Torquay United in 2015, Barrow from 2015 until 2017, and Guiseley between 2017 and 2018. He is currently manager of Kettering Town.

Paul Cox
Cox in 2013
Personal information
Full name Paul Richard Cox[1]
Date of birth (1972-01-06) 6 January 1972[1]
Place of birth Nottingham, England
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Kettering Town (manager)
Youth career
1989–1991 Notts County
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1995 Notts County 43 (1)
1994 → Hull City (loan) 5 (1)
1995–1996 Kettering Town 8 (0)
1996–1997 Halifax Town 23 (0)
1997–2001 Kettering Town 92 (0)
2001–2002 Hucknall Town
Teams managed
2005–2011 Eastwood Town
2011–2014 Mansfield Town
2015 Torquay United
2015–2017 Barrow
2017–2018 Guiseley
2019– Kettering Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Cox was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.[1] As a player, he was a defender who could play as right-back or as a central defender. He began his career at his hometown club Notts County, making his first-team debut against Manchester City on 25 April 1992, coming on as a substitute for Kevin Bartlett.[2] Cox spent five years at Notts County, playing just over 40 matches, and also had a short loan spell with Hull City.

At the end of the 1994–95 season, Cox was released by Notts County, and he subsequently dropped down into non-league football, where he most notably spent five seasons with Kettering Town, and also had spells at Halifax Town and Hucknall Town.

Coaching and management career

Eastwood Town

In 2003, Cox began his coaching career when he became assistant manager at Eastwood Town of the Northern Premier League. In October 2006, Cox became manager of the club, and steered the club away from the Northern Premier League Division One relegation zone in his first season. The next season, he guided the Badgers to the first of two consecutive promotions, and in 2008–09 he also guided the club to the third round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history, where they lost to his former team Kettering.[3]

In 2009–10, Cox led Eastwood to an 11th-place finish in their debut season in the Conference North, and in 2010–11, sparked by a 19-match unbeaten run, Eastwood finished in 4th place. However, the club was not allowed to compete in the promotion play-offs because their Coronation Park ground did not have the proper grade to be eligible for promotion to the Conference Premier.[3] On 5 May 2011, Cox resigned as manager of Eastwood Town.[3]

Mansfield Town

On 19 May 2011, Cox was appointed as the manager of Mansfield Town in the Conference Premier on a one-year contract.[4] Cox led Mansfield to their highest Conference finish in his first season, finishing third, but eventually losing in the play offs to York City. The next season he guided Mansfield to promotion to the Football League. Mansfield won 20 of the last 24 games to be crowned champions,this included a club record of 12 consecutive wins. This season Mansfield also reached the 3rd round proper of The FA Cup, losing eventually to a controversial Luis Suarez goal which gave Liverpool a 2–1 win. On 12 April 2012, Cox confirmed a new contract with Mansfield chairman John Radford to keep him at the club for another two seasons.[5]

After Mansfield beat Barrow 8–1 in February 2013, thus improving on their 7–0 win in the reverse fixture, the club's chairman gave Cox his Aston Martin car as a reward.[6]

On 21 November 2014, Cox left Mansfield by mutual consent.[7] Cox left Mansfield the second highest win ratio in the club's history. A win ratio of 44.57%, a ratio only bettered by Dave Smith.

Torquay United

On 17 June 2015, Cox was appointed as the new manager of National League club Torquay United.[8] He resigned after only three months in charge, later revealing that the club had been unable to pay him.[9]

Barrow

On 23 November 2015, Cox was appointed as the manager of National League club Barrow.[10] Cox guided Barrow away from the Conference National relegation zone finishing a respectable 11th place in his first season in charge. The next season Barrow just missed out on the play offs after finishing 7th, whilst also reaching the 3rd round proper of The FA Cup. He resigned as Barrow manager on 24 August 2017, ending a 22-month spell at the club.

Guiseley

Eleven days after leaving Barrow, Cox was appointed manager of fellow National League club Guiseley.[11] He was sacked by the club in February 2018, managing only 4 wins in 29 games for the Yorkshire side.[12]

Kettering Town

On 24 October 2019 Cox was appointed as the manager of National League North club Kettering Town, where he had previously made 125 appearances during his senior career between 1997 and 2001.[13]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 1 February 2020
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
PWDLWin %
Mansfield Town 19 May 2011 21 November 2014 176 78 46 52 044.3 [4][7][14]
Torquay United 17 June 2015 18 September 2015 10 2 4 4 020.0 [8][9][15]
Barrow 23 November 2015 24 August 2017 86 37 30 19 043.0 [16]
Guiseley 4 September 2017 14 February 2018 29 4 10 15 013.8 [16]
Kettering Town 24 October 2019 Present 16 6 6 4 037.5
Total 317 127 96 94 040.1 —

Honours

Eastwood Town

Mansfield Town

References
  1. "Paul Cox". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  2. Rollin, Jack (1992). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1992–93. Headline Books. ISBN 0-7472-7905-5.
  3. Cox quits as Eastwood boss , Nottingham Evening post (5 May 2011). Retrieved on 18 May 2011.
  4. "Mansfield Town appoint Paul Cox as manager". BBC Sport. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Mansfield Town chairman gives Aston Martin to manager". BBC News Nottingham. 10 February 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  7. "Paul Cox: Mansfield Town part company with manager". BBC Sport. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  8. Pilnick, Brent (17 June 2015). "Paul Cox: Torquay United name ex-Mansfield boss as manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  9. Pilnick, Brent (18 September 2015). "Torquay United: Paul Cox resigns as manager after three months". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  10. "Barrow appoint Paul Cox as manager after Darren Edmondson exit". BBC Sport. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  11. "Paul Cox Appointed as Manager". Guiseley AFC. 4 September 2017. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  12. Paul Cox: Guiseley manager sacked after five months in charge BBC Sport, 14 February 2018
  13. New boss Cox is 'looking forward to the challenge' with Poppies Northamptonshire Telegraph, 24 October 2019
  14. "Mansfield Town FC: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  15. "Torquay: Results/matches: 2015/16". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  16. "Managers: Paul Cox". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
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