Ruel Fox
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| Ruel Fox | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ruel Adrian Fox | |
| Date of birth | January 14, 1968 | |
| Place of birth | Ipswich, England | |
| Playing position | Midfielder (retired) | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1986-1994 1994-1995 1995-2000 2000 2000-2002 |
Norwich City Newcastle United Tottenham Hotspur → West Bromwich Albion (loan) West Bromwich Albion |
173 (22) 58 (12) 106 (13) 2 (0) 56 (2) |
| National team | ||
| 1994 |
England B Montserrat |
2 (0) 2 (1) |
| Teams managed | ||
| Whitton United | ||
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Ruel Adrian Fox (born January 14, 1968 in Ipswich) is a former English football player of Montserratian and Antiguan descent who played for Norwich City, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Bromwich Albion from 1986 to 2002.
Fox made his senior debut for Norwich City during the 1986-87 season in a Full Members Cup match against Coventry City and made his league debut against Oxford United at Carrow Road a few days later.
After several seasons of being a substitute and finding it difficult to hold down a regular first team spot, he eventually established himself and played an important part in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 campaigns, which were arguably two of the best in the club's history. He was a fast, tricky winger who was a handful for defenders and provided good crosses.
Fox left Norwich in 1994 to join Newcastle United for a fee of £2,250,000. Upon signing him, Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan described him as "the best player in his position in the country". Competition for first team places was stiff at Newcastle, and shortly after the start of the 1995-96 season Tottenham Hotspur paid £4,250,000 for Fox. Fox was an early member of the Newcastle teams known as The Entertainers. Fox found it difficult to settle at White Hart Lane and he was constantly linked with moves away from Tottenham Hotspur before joining West Bromwich Albion at the start of the 2000-01 season. He helped them to promotion in 2001-02, before being released at the end of the season.[1] He subsequently retired from playing professionally, and instead ran a restaurant in his hometown of Ipswich.
Later, Fox played for the Montserrat national team and was named its head coach in October 2004. He also scouts for players in England who are eligible to play for Montserrat. He scored for his adopted nation in a match against Antigua in November 2004. He is currently coach of non-league Whitton United F.C., who play in the Ridgeons League.
In 2002, Norwich supporters voted Fox an inaugural member of the Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame.
