Simon Cox

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. He 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, he 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…

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. While there was some controversy over his goal, replays clearly showed the ball touched his chest and never touched his hands. He scored the equaliser in the 1–1 friendly against the Czech Republic at the Aviva Stadium on 29 February 2012. Cox was selected in Trapattoni's 23-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2012. He scored his fourth goal for Ireland in a 4–0 win over Georgia on 2 June 2013.

Club

International

Scores and results list the Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cox goal.

Republic of Ireland

Nations Cup: 2011 Individual

Swindon Town Player of the Season: 2008–09