Russ Wilcox

Russell "Russ" Wilcox (born 25 March 1964) is an English former professional footballer and current manager.

Russ Wilcox

Wilcox as Scunthorpe United manager in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Russell Wilcox[1]
Date of birth	25 March 1964[1]
Place of birth	Hemsworth, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1981	Doncaster Rovers	1	(0)
1981–1982	Cambridge United	0	(0)
1982–1986	Frickley Athletic	129	(19)
1986–1990	Northampton Town	138	(9)
1990–1993	Hull City	100	(7)
1993–1995	Doncaster Rovers	81	(6)
1995–1997	Preston North End	62	(1)
1997–2003	Scunthorpe United	118	(4)
Total		629	(46)
National team
1986	England semi-pro	2	(1)
Teams managed
2004	Scunthorpe United (caretaker)
2013–2014	Scunthorpe United
2014–2015	York City
2020	Scunthorpe United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Wilcox played as a defender between 1980 and 2003 and spent the final six years of his career with Scunthorpe United which is where he began working under Brian Laws. Wilcox would act as Laws' assistant at Glanford Park from 2003 to 2006 before following him on to further jobs at Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley. The pair returned to Scunthorpe in 2012 and in November 2013 Wilcox succeeded Laws as manager of the club, taking Scunthorpe to promotion. A poor start to the following year's campaign saw Wilcox sacked from Scunthorpe and he was then recruited by York City. Another poor start to a season saw Wilcox sacked by York City in October 2015.

Club career

Wilcox was born in Hemsworth, West Riding of Yorkshire.[1] He started his career with Doncaster Rovers as an apprentice, and made his first team debut aged 17 when starting the last match of their 1980–81 Fourth Division promotion winning season, a 1–1 away draw with Mansfield Town on 6 May 1981.[2][3] His progress the following season was disrupted through injury, and he left for a brief spell with Cambridge United of the Second Division.[2] Wilcox dropped into non-League football to play for Alliance Premier League club Frickley Athletic during 1982–83.[4]

He returned to the professional game when he joined Fourth Division club Northampton Town for a £15,000 fee on 30 June 1986.[1] He later played for Hull City, Preston North End and Scunthorpe United. He played the majority of his career at Scunthorpe, where he was signed by Brian Laws in 1997. He eventually became player-assistant manager to Laws in 1999 after the win at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final against Leyton Orient.

International career

Wilcox earned two caps and scored one goal for the England national semi-pro team, in matches against the Republic of Ireland and Wales in 1986.[5]

Coaching and managerial career

Wilcox as York City manager in 2015

When Brian Laws was sacked in 2004, Wilcox took temporary control of the Glanford Park club for four games, until Laws was reinstated. When Laws returned to the club, Wilcox reverted to his original role of assistant manager. In 2006, Laws left Scunthorpe when he was appointed manager of Sheffield Wednesday, Wilcox shortly followed him to take up the assistant manager's role at Hillsborough Stadium.

On 13 January 2010, he joined Premier League club Burnley as assistant manager, yet again moving to work under Brian Laws. He left Burnley in December 2010.[6]

On 30 November 2011 at a fans forum, Wilcox was named as the new assistant manager of League One outfit Bournemouth, working alongside manager Lee Bradbury. On 30 October 2012 he and Laws returned to manage League One side Scunthorpe United replacing former manager Alan Knill who was sacked following a string of poor results and poor performances. This will be the third time he and Brian Laws have worked together at Scunthorpe. Laws was dismissed on 20 November 2013 with Wilcox taking over on a caretaker basis. On 24 December 2013 Wilcox was confirmed as permanent manager of the club on a 12-month rolling contract.[7]

On 12 April 2014, Wilcox broke the record for the longest unbeaten run at the beginning of a managerial reign, with a draw against Bury being his 26th game in charge without defeat.[8] In total, Wilcox managed 28 consecutive games without defeat, with his first loss coming in the penultimate game of the season on 26 April 2014 away to Exeter City. Results elsewhere meant that Scunthorpe secured promotion on that day regardless.[9] Scunthorpe won just two of their first eleven matches back in League One, which resulted in Wilcox being sacked on 8 October 2014.[10]

A week after leaving Scunthorpe Wilcox was appointed as the new manager of League Two club York City on 15 October 2014, following the resignation of Nigel Worthington.[11] He was sacked on 26 October 2015, with York fourth-bottom of the table after a run of nine league matches without a win.[12]

After the departure of Paul Hurst in January 2020, Wilcox was appointed caretaker manager, and remained until the end of the season.[13]

Personal life

His son Joe Wilcox, born 1989, is a former professional footballer,[14] who was a trainee at Scunthorpe United before playing in non-League football.[15]

Career statistics

Wilcox as York City manager in 2015

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Doncaster Rovers	1980–81[3]	Fourth Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
Frickley Athletic	1982–83[4]	Alliance Premier League	17	0			—				17	0
	1983–84[4]	Alliance Premier League	36	6			—				36	6
	1984–85[4]	Alliance Premier League	36	1			—				36	1
	1985–86[4]	Alliance Premier League	40	12			—				40	12
	Total		129	19			—				129	19
Northampton Town	1986–87[16]	Fourth Division	35	1	3	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 1]	0	41	1
	1987–88[17]	Third Division	46	4	2	0	4	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	0	54	4
	1988–89[18]	Third Division	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
	1989–90[19]	Third Division	46	3	5	0	2	0	3[lower-alpha 1]	1	56	4
	Total		138	9	10	0	6	0	8	1	162	10
Hull City	1990–91[20]	Second Division	31	1	0	0	2	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	34	1
	1991–92[21]	Third Division	40	4	3	1	3	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	0	48	5
	1992–93[22]	Second Division	29	2	2	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 3]	0	34	2
	Total		100	7	5	1	5	0	6	0	116	8
Doncaster Rovers	1993–94[23]	Third Division	40	2	2	0	2	1	0	0	44	3
	1994–95[24]	Third Division	37	4	1	0	1	0	3[lower-alpha 3]	0	42	4
	1995–96[25]	Third Division	4	0	—		2	1	—		6	1
	Total		81	6	3	0	5	2	3	0	92	8
Preston North End	1995–96[26]	Third Division	27	1	1	1	—		1[lower-alpha 3]	0	29	2
	1996–97[27]	Second Division	35	0	2	0	4	0	1[lower-alpha 3]	0	42	0
	Total		62	1	3	1	4	0	2	0	71	2
Scunthorpe United	1997–98[28]	Third Division	31	2	4	2	3	0	3[lower-alpha 3]	0	41	4
	1998–99[29]	Third Division	28	1	2	0	2	0	3[lower-alpha 4]	0	35	1
	1999–2000[30]	Second Division	14	0	0	0	1	0	2[lower-alpha 3]	0	17	0
	2000–01[31]	Third Division	36	1	5	0	2	0	0	0	43	1
	2001–02[32]	Third Division	9	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	10	0
	2002–03[33]	Third Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		118	4	11	2	9	0	8	0	146	6
Career total			629	46	32	4	29	2	27	1	717	53

1. Appearances in Associate Members Cup
2. Appearance in Full Members Cup
3. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
4. Appearances in Third Division play-offs

Managerial statistics

As of 26 October 2015

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Scunthorpe United (caretaker)	25 March 2004	15 April 2004	4	0	2	2	000.0	[34][35]
Scunthorpe United	20 November 2013	8 October 2014	45	18	16	11	040.0	[34]
York City	15 October 2014	26 October 2015	54	13	20	21	024.1	[34]
Total			103	31	38	34	030.1	—

Honours

As a player

Northampton Town

• Fourth Division: 1986–87[1]

Preston North End

• Third Division: 1995–96[1]

Scunthorpe United

• Third Division play-offs: 1998–99[29]

As a manager

Scunthorpe United

• League Two runner-up: 2013–14[36]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2002). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 438. ISBN 978-1-85291-648-0.
2. "Russ Wilcox". doncasterrovers.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
3. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1981). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1981–82. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 146–147, 430–432, 466–470. ISBN 0-362-02046-9.
4. Harman, John (2005). Alliance to Conference 1979–2004: The First 25 Years. Helland: Tony Williams Publications. pp. 278–279. ISBN 978-1-869833-52-7.
5. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2012). Non-League Club Directory 2013. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 1003, 1005, 1010. ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0.
6. "Gray placed in temporary charge". Burnley F.C. 30 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011.
7. "Russ Wilcox appointed Scunthorpe manager". BBC Sport. 24 December 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
8. Sumpter, Chris (26 March 2014). "Russ Wilcox pours praise on Scunthorpe United players as 'crazy' run continues at Cheltenham Town – and equals Football League record". Scunthorpe Telegraph. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
9. Pilnick, Brent (26 April 2014). "Exeter 2–0 Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
10. "Scunthorpe United sack manager Russ Wilcox". BBC Sport. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
11. Flett, Dave (15 October 2014). "York City appoint former Scunthorpe boss Russ Wilcox as their new manager". The Press. York. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
12. Flett, Dave (26 October 2015). "York City sack manager Russ Wilcox". The Press. York. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
13. "Scunthorpe United caretaker boss to stay in charge until end of season". BBC Sport. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
14. "Joe Wilcox". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
15. "Wilcox signs new deal". Corby Town F.C. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
16. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 256–257, 447–450, 462–464, 481–486. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
17. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1988). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1988–89. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 254–255, 445–452, 459–460, 478–480. ISBN 978-0-356-15880-8.
18. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1989). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1989–90. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 360–361, 619–625, 633–636, 645, 938–939. ISBN 978-0-356-17910-0.
19. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1990). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1990–91. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 380–381, 639–643, 655–659, 668–676. ISBN 0-356-17912-5.
20. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1991). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1991–92. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 264–265, 619–623, 628, 649. ISBN 978-0-356-19198-0.
21. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1992). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1992–93. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 270–271, 624–631, 641–644, 660–664. ISBN 978-0-356-19198-0.
22. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1993). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1993–94. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 268–269, 616–619, 637–639, 655–658. ISBN 978-0-7472-7895-5.
23. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1994). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1994–95. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 208–209, 616–618, 636–637, 656–658. ISBN 978-0-7472-7857-3.
24. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1995). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1995–96. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 152–153, 578–581, 596–598, 609. ISBN 978-0-7472-7823-8.
25. Rollin, Glenda, ed. (1996). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1996–97. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 152–153, 573–575. ISBN 978-0-7472-7781-1.
26. Rollin (ed.). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1996–97. pp. 284–285, 588–590, 597–600.
27. Rollin, Glenda, ed. (1997). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1997–98. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 292–293, 578–583, 588–589, 598–601. ISBN 978-0-7472-7738-5.
28. "Games played by Russ Wilcox in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
29. "Games played by Russ Wilcox in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
30. "Games played by Russ Wilcox in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
31. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2001). Rothmans Football Yearbook 2001–2002. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 330–331, 586–588, 605–611. ISBN 978-0-7472-7260-1.
32. "Games played by Russ Wilcox in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
33. "Games played by Russ Wilcox in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
34. "Managers: Russ Wilcox". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
35. "Wilcox tribute to Laws". BBC Sport. 26 March 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
36. "R. Wilcox". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 20 April 2016.

External links

• Russ Wilcox at Soccerbase