About Sammy Cox

Sammy Cox

Cox was also a ferocious tackler, despite being only 5ft 8ins tall and weighing less than 11 stones. He was born in Darvel on April 13 1924 and played as a teenage amateur for Queen’s Park, Third Lanark and Dundee during the war. 

He turned professional with Rangers in May 1946, playing his first game in a 4-0 defeat of Airdrie in the Victory Cup that month. Cox made his league debut at right back in August 1946 in the 4-2 win at Motherwell. 

He played 13 league games that season in four different positions, also appearing at right half, left half and inside right. 

By the 1947-48 season he had established himself and played in every league game, including one on the left wing against Clyde. Cox even got the winner in a 2-1 victory. 

He won the first of his club honours with Rangers that season, a Scottish Cup winners’ medal in the 1-0 replayed final against Morton. 

By the following season he had moved to left half and George Young had switched to right back to complete a formidable defence which also included Bobby Brown, Jock Shaw, Ian McColl and Willie Woodburn.

That Iron Curtain laid the foundations for Rangers to become the first team to win the Treble, which they did in 1948-49. Cox missed only one League game as Rangers took the title by a point from Dundee.

His one League Cup medal was won in March 1949 with a 2-0 victory over Raith Rovers and Cox earned his second Scottish Cup winners’ medal in the 4-1 defeat of Clyde in the final in April.
That year he won his first full Scotland cap, rejoicing in a 3-1 win over England at Wembley. Cox won 24 caps for Scotland and was captain against the English in his farewell international year in 1954.

Back at Ibrox, Cox was ever-present again in 1949-50 as Rangers retained the league title. Cox also got his third and final Scottish Cup winners’ medal that season as East Fife were beaten 3-0 in the Final. 

The next two seasons were barren years as Rangers failed to win a major honour. Cox played fewer games, varying between left half and left back. But in 1952-53, Cox was back as a permanent fixture at left half and won the last of his three Championships. Sadly, however, he missed out on a fourth Scottish Cup winners’ medal as Rangers beat Aberdeen without him. 

Halfway through the 1953-54 season he was switched again to left back and by the next season his appearances were down to 12 league games. He played his last match in a Rangers jersey in the 2-1 defeat by Aberdeen in the Sixth Round of the Scottish Cup on February 19 1955. 

Cox spent a few seasons with East Fife before emigrating to Canada in 1959. The quality and versatility of his positional play was such that some commentators called him a player out of his time, one they said who would have fitted naturally into the fluid Brazilian team of the 1980s. When you think that Brazil then had midfield players such as Socrates and Falcao, you begin to understand the esteem in which Sammy Cox was held.
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