Scunthorpe United Cox began his career at his hometown club, the team he supported as a child,
Scunthorpe United. Cox was involved with the team from an early age, being allowed to join in pre-season training sessions with the squad at the age of just 11. He was later allowed to train with the first-team by manager
Frank Barlow at the age of 13 and was allowed to travel to an away game with the senior players. He gradually progressed through the youth ranks at the club before signing his first professional deal with the club in 1990, being handed a two-year deal, along with fellow youth graduates
Graham Alexander and
Richard Hall. Cox later revealed that he had been offered deals by other clubs but had remained with Scunthorpe as he was " a local lad and I just wanted to play for my local team." a club record for Scunthorpe at the time, as well as the installation of 2000 new seats at
Glanford Park, Cox later stated that his biggest regret over the incident was "that I never played in an FA Cup final". Defeat for the side in the final completed a disastrous end to the season for the club as they also suffered defeat in the
League Cup final and were relegated from the
Premier League following a three-point deduction for failing to fulfil a fixture following a flu outbreak in the squad.
Bolton Wanderers Cox played in the
1999 Football League First Division play-off final for Bolton, where they suffered a 2–0 defeat to
Watford. In 2001, Italian
Gianluca Vialli was appointed manager of the club and Cox was one of a handful of first-team players left in England to train with the reserves as the squad traveled to Italy for a pre-season tour. Cox later stated that he was dropped by Vialli as outgoing manager
Graham Taylor had expressed concern to him that Cox was a bad influence on the dressing room. In April 2006, with his contract ending on 30 June, Cox expressed his desire to stay at the club, stating "I'd love to stay at the club. I've enjoyed my year".
Crewe Alexandra Cox scored twice for The Railwaymen. His first goal came in a 3–1 win over
Cheltenham Town on 12 September 2006. He also scored against
MK Dons in the
FA Cup the following season. Cox signed for Crewe in June 2006 after being released by
Cardiff City. Cox retired at the end of the
2007–08 season; the home game against
Oldham Athletic was the last of his career. ==Managerial career==