Don Fox

{{short description|GB & England international rugby league footballer and coach}}

{{Infobox rugby league biography

|name = Don Fox

|fullname = Donald Fox

|image =

|imagesize =

|caption =

|birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1935|10|15}}

|birth_place = Sharlston, Wakefield, England

|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|8|21|1935|10|15}}

|death_place = Wakefield, England

|height =

|weight =

|position = {{rlp|SH|PR|LF}}

|club1 = {{nowrap|Featherstone Rovers}}

|year1start = 1953

|year1end = 65

|appearances1 = 368

|tries1 = 162

|goals1 = 503

|fieldgoals1 = 0

|points1 = 1492

|club2 = Wakefield Trinity

|year2start = 1965

|year2end = 70

|appearances2 = 117

|tries2 = 18

|goals2 = 84

|fieldgoals2 = 0

|points2 = 222

|club3 = Batley

|year3start =

|year3end =

|teamA = Yorkshire

|yearAstart = 1956

|yearAend = 58

|appearancesA = 3

|triesA = 2

|goalsA = 0

|fieldgoalsA = 0

|pointsA = 6

|teamB = England

|yearBstart = 1956

|yearBend =

|appearancesB = 1

|triesB = 0

|goalsB = 0

|fieldgoalsB = 0

|pointsB = 0

|teamC = Great Britain

|yearCstart = 1956

|yearCend = 63

|appearancesC = 2

|triesC = 3

|goalsC = 2

|fieldgoalsC = 0

|pointsC = 13

|coachteam1 = Batley

|coachyear1start = 1972

|coachyear1end = 74

|coachgames1 =

|coachwins1 =

|coachdraws1 =

|coachlosses1 =

|retired = yes

|source = {{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/don-fox/summary.html|title=Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org|publisher=rugbyleagueproject.org|date=31 December 2011|access-date=1 January 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/coaches/don-fox/summary.html|title=Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org|publisher=rugbyleagueproject.org|date=31 December 2011|access-date=1 January 2012}}{{Rugby league records |id=8890 |title=Don Fox |access-date=21 December 2023}}

| module = {{infobox person

| embed = yes

| father =

| mother =

| relatives = Neil Fox (brother)
Peter Fox (brother)

| children =

}}

Donald Fox (15 October 1935 – 21 August 2008), was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Yorkshire, and at club level for Featherstone Rovers (captain) and Wakefield Trinity, as a right-footed goal-kicking {{rlp|sh|pr}} or {{rlp|lf}}, and coached at club level for Batley.

Background

Don Fox was born in Sharlston, near Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He was the younger brother of Peter, and the older brother of Neil Fox, and together they formed one of the legendary rugby league families.

Club career

=Featherstone Rovers=

Don Fox earned his début for Featherstone Rovers as a {{rlp|sh}} on Wednesday 9 September 1953. A gifted player, he broke the Featherstone Rovers' record points scored in a season, the next winter and was called up for England's game against France. He was an outstanding kicker, scoring 12 goals in a Challenge Cup victory against Stanningley ARLFC in 1964.

Don Fox played {{rlp|sh}}, and scored a try in Featherstone Rovers' 15–14 victory over Hull F.C. in the 1959–60 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1959–60 season at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 31 October 1959, and played {{rlp|sh}} in Featherstone Rovers' 0–10 defeat by Halifax in the 1963–64 Yorkshire Cup Final during the 1963–64 season at Belle Vue, Wakefield on Saturday 2 November 1963.

Don Fox's benefit season/testimonial match at Featherstone Rovers took place during the 1963–64 season.

Don holds the Featherstone Rovers record for tries scored (162) and is third on their all-time goal-kicking charts with 503 in 369 appearances, itself the 7th most in Featherstone Rovers' history,{{cite web|url=http://www.btinternet.com/~rovers/donfox.htm|title=Btinternet.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050318224029/http://www.btinternet.com/~rovers/donfox.htm|archive-date=18 March 2005}} having enjoyed 13 years at Featherstone Rovers.Bailey, Ron (1956). The Official History Of Featherstone Rovers R.L.F.C.. Wakefield Express. ASIN: B00O1TLDPC Don Fox is a Featherstone Rovers Hall of Fame inductee.{{cite web|url=http://www.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk/news/featherstone-rovers-legends-added-to-hall-of-fame-1-8214653|title=Featherstone Rovers legends added to Hall of Fame|publisher=pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk|date=5 November 2016|access-date=1 January 2017}}

=Wakefield Trinity=

He joined Wakefield in 1965 for a fee of £3,000,{{cite news|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/wakefield-trinity/sporting_bygones_golden_days_of_the_sixties_when_wakefield_ruled_the_roost_before_loyal_trinity_fans_rallied_round_in_support_of_forlorn_finalist_fox_1_3612905|title=Sporting Bygones: Golden days of the Sixties when Wakefield ruled the roost…|work=Yorkshire Post|date=25 July 2011|access-date=1 January 2012}} linking up with his younger brother Neil, where they enjoyed great success with Wakefield Trinity. After he retired from playing in 1970, he coached Batley from November 1972 to October 1974, before becoming a safety-joiner in the South Yorkshire coalfield. He died in a hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7574470.stm|title=GB and Wakefield legend Fox dies|publisher=bbc.co.uk|date=31 December 2011|access-date=1 January 2012}}

Fox played {{rlp|lf}} in Wakefield Trinity's 21–9 victory over St. Helens in the Championship Final replay during the 1966–67 season at Station Road, Swinton on Wednesday 10 May 1967, and played at {{rlp|pr}}, and scored a goal in the 17–10 victory over Hull Kingston Rovers in the Championship Final during the 1967–68 season at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 4 May 1968.Hoole, Les (2004). Wakefield Trinity RLFC – FIFTY GREAT GAMES. Breedon Books. {{ISBN|1-85983-429-9}}

==1968 Challenge Cup Final==

Don Fox played at {{rlp|pr}}, and scored two conversions in Wakefield Trinity's 10–11 defeat by Leeds in the 1967–68 Challenge Cup "Watersplash" Final during the 1967–68 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 11 May 1968, in front of a crowd of 87,100. The match was played on a waterlogged pitch and the score was 11–7 to Leeds when Ken Hirst scored a try under the posts for Wakefield Trinity with the final play of the game. Tries were worth three points at that time, making the score 11–10, but a simple 2-point conversion was all that was needed to give Wakefield an unassailable one-point lead, and win the game. Wakefield Trinity fans were jubilant as the conversion from in front of the posts is by far the easiest kick in rugby league. Fox had already scored two more difficult conversions in the game, and he was such a prolific kicker that it realistically should have presented no problem. However, the waterlogged state of the pitch made this a more difficult proposition, and Fox lost his footing and sliced the ball wide of the posts. The final whistle was blown immediately afterwards, giving Leeds a dramatic one-point victory. Commentator Eddie Waring said of Fox, 'He's a poor lad', a remark which became a widely quoted piece of commentary.{{cite news |title=The 10 greatest bits of commentary ever |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2002/oct/06/sixnations2008.features |accessdate=6 July 2020 |work=The Guardian}} Fox had already been chosen to win the Lance Todd Trophy for his performance in the match, but he was disconsolate and trudged off the pitch. Interviewed by David Coleman on television later, he was asked if the trophy was any consolation and replied "not really, no".[http://theredcauldron.blogspot.com/2006_05_21_archive.html Blogspot.com] The boots he was wearing during the game are now on display at Wakefield Museum.

International honours

=Great Britain=

Fox represented Great Britain while at Featherstone Rovers in 1956 against France (1 non-Test match),Edgar, Harry (2007). Rugby League Journal Annual 2008 Page-110. Rugby League Journal Publishing. {{ISBN|0-9548355-3-0}} and he was selected for Great Britain while at Featherstone Rovers for the 1962 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand.{{cite web|url=http://www.featherstonerovers.net/page.php?id=1098|title=Representative Players|publisher=featherstonerovers.net|date=31 December 2011|access-date=1 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515165945/http://www.featherstonerovers.net/page.php?id=1098|archive-date=15 May 2014|url-status=dead}}

Don Fox was understudy to Alex Murphy on the 1962 Lions tour. He later moved to {{rlp|lf}}, where he earned his sole Test cap for Great Britain against Australia in 1963, scoring one try and two goals in a 16–5 win.

=England=

Fox won one cap for England, during the 1955-56 European Rugby League Championship, v France on 10 May 1956; France won 23–9.

=County honours=

Don Fox won caps for Yorkshire while at Featherstone Rovers; during the 1956–57 season against Cumberland and Lancashire, and during the 1958–59 season against and Lancashire, he also won a cap(s) for Yorkshire while at Wakefield Trinity.

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20150518082505/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/sport/article229193.ece SportsFile: Caught in Time: Leeds win the Challenge Cup, 1968]
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2598460/Don-Fox.html Obituary in The Telegraph]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20100523195135/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4601519.ece Obituary in The Times]
[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/don-fox-rugby-league-player-famed-for-a-missed-kick-in-the-wembley-mud-908521.html Obituary in The Independent]
[https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/aug/29/rugbyleague Obituary in The Guardian]
[https://www.britishpathe.com/video/rugby-cup-final/query/Rugby+League+Final Rugby Cup Final 1968]