Deryck Fox

Deryck Fox (born 17 September 1964) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Yorkshire, and at club level for Featherstone Rovers, Western Suburbs Magpies, Bradford Northern, Batley and Rochdale Hornets, as a scrum-half, and coached at club level for Rochdale Hornets, Shaw Cross ARLFC, Batemans Bay Tigers and Dewsbury Celtic.^[5] He attended St John Fisher's RC High School in Dewsbury.

Deryck Fox

Personal information
Born	(1964-09-17) 17 September 1964 (age 60) Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England
Playing information
Position	Scrum-half
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1983–92 Featherstone 307+2 78 328 52 1020 1986 Wests Magpies 8 0 0 0 0 1992–95 Bradford 106+1 17 330 16 744 1995–97 Featherstone 43+1 6 45 11 125 1998 Batley 3 0 1 0 2 1998 Rochdale 11 0 41 0 82 Total 482 101 745 79 1973 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1985–91 Yorkshire 8 2 6 1 21 1985–92 Great Britain 10+4 3 4 0 20 1995 England 2 1 5 0 14 1990–92 GB tour games 12+5 2 14 0 36
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1998–99 Rochdale Hornets
Source: [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Club career

Early career

Fox began playing rugby league for St John Fisher Catholic High School in Dewsbury, and was selected for the 1983 BARLA Great Britain youth tour of New Zealand. He turned professional after returning from the tour, signing for Featherstone Rovers.

Featherstone Rovers

Fox made his debut as a substitute against Hull in an 8–24 defeat in the first round of the Yorkshire Cup on 4 September 1983.^[7]

He played scrum-half, was captain, and scored 3-goals in Featherstone Rovers' 14–20 defeat by Bradford Northern in the 1989 Yorkshire Cup final during the 1989–90 season at Headingley, Leeds on Sunday 5 November 1989.

Bradford Northern

In 1992, Fox was signed by Bradford Northern for a fee of £140,000 - a record fee at the time for a scrum-half.^[8]

He played scrum-half in Bradford Northern's 8–15 defeat by Wigan in the 1992–93 Regal Trophy final during the 1992–93 season at Elland Road, Leeds on Saturday 23 January 1993.^[9]

Later career

Fox returned to Featherstone during the 1995–96 season, and went on to play for Batley Bulldogs and Rochdale Hornets.

In 2010, Fox was inducted into the Featherstone Rovers Hall of Fame.^[10]

Representative career

County honours

Fox won caps for Yorkshire while at Featherstone Rovers; during the 1985–86 season against Lancashire and New Zealand, during the 1986–87 season against Lancashire, during the 1987–88 season against Lancashire, and Papua New Guinea, during the 1988–89 season against Lancashire, during the 1989–90 season against Lancashire, and during the 1991–92 season against Lancashire.

International honours

Fox won caps for England while at Bradford Northern in 1995 against Wales and France,^[3] and won caps for Great Britain while at Featherstone Rovers in 1985 against France (2 matches), and New Zealand (3 matches), in 1986 against France (2 matches), and Australia (2 matches), in 1989 against New Zealand (sub), in 1990 against Papua New Guinea (sub), in 1991 against Papua New Guinea (sub), in 1992 against France (sub), and while at Bradford Northern in 1992 Australia.^[4]

He was selected to go on the 1990 and 1992 Great Britain Lions tour.

Personal life

Deryck Fox is the son of the rugby league prop who played in the 1970s for Batley, John Fox, and the brother of the rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s for Featherstone Rovers, Martin Fox.

References

1. Fletcher, Raymond (1999). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1999. Headline. pp. 148–49. ISBN 978-0-7472-7572-5.
2. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
3. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
4. "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
5. "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
6. RL Record Keepers' Club
7. Bailey, Ron (20 September 2001). Images of Sport - Featherstone Rovers Rugby League Football Club. The History Press. ISBN 0752422952
8. Hadfield, Dave (10 September 1992). "Rugby League: Northern buy pounds 140,000 Fox". The Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
9. "23rd January 1993: Bradford 8 Wigan 15 (Regal Trophy Final)". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
10. "Featherstone set to honour famous trio". Yorkshire Post. 5 July 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2019.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Shane Tupaea 1996–1998	Coach Rochdale Hornets 1998–1999	Succeeded by Bob Eccles 1999