Bolton Wanderers is an English football club. Bolton Wanderers competes in FA Women's Cup. Bolton Wanderers's Sportra hub links squad lists, upcoming fixtures, recent results, multi-competition standings, advanced season statistics, and headline news in one place. On Sportra you can follow Bolton Wanderers fixtures, results, squad, league standings, season statistics, and the latest football news.
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In an exclusive interview, Neil Cox discusses his rise from Scunthorpe to Aston Villa, his infamous fallout with Fabrizio Ravanelli, and coaching Montserrat during World Cup 2026 qualifying. He’s already built a legacy on the pitch, but now, Neil James Cox is constructing a legacy on the touchline. Born on October 8, 1971, Neil Cox joined Scunthorpe United’s academy in 1985 and ascended through the ranks before eventually making his first-team debut in 1990. It didn’t take long for him to make his presence felt, with Aston Villa coming calling and giving them a club-record outlay of £400,000 as well as 2,000 new seats at Glanford Park in order for Scunthorpe to adjust to English football’s new post-Hillsborough rules. After receiving a call from Scunthorpe assistant manager Bill Green about the transfer on a Sunday night, Cox was on a flight to Hong Kong to join Villa in training. “It was quite funny, because I signed for Aston Villa on a Monday. I traveled down on a Monday, and on Tuesday, I was back in training, and we flew into Hong Kong with the first team,” stated Cox in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “Obviously, it was the middle of the season, and Aston Villa had been knocked out of the FA Cup early, so they had a spare two weeks and flew to Hong Kong. Obviously, I had gone from being a Scunthorpe boy who had been playing in the local leagues, very, very low-key, to traveling to Hong Kong to play two games in front of 100,000 people. It was completely strange, but in those two weeks, I got to know players like David Platt, Paul McGrath, Kent Nielsen, Tony Daly—some really top players who really looked after me. On that trip, I got taught how to behave, how to do things properly, how higher-end players look after themselves, and how they make sure they do everything right. I think that two weeks away was a settling learning curve for me that helped me.” Cox seamlessly transitioned from the English fourth tier to the top flight, making 60 appearances for Villa and emerging as a key figure at right back and center back. He was able to take part in both the First Division as well as the newly formed Premier League, as well as helping them beat Manchester United in the 1994 Football League Cup Final, ending a 12-year trophy drought. After guiding Villa to greatness at Wembley, Cox left Birmingham and became the first player to break the £1 million transfer fee mark for Middlesbrough, where he surpassed expectations and earned praise from the likes of Troy Townsend. He quickly established himself as an integral figure for Boro’s defense, guiding them to the First Division title and making it to the 1994–95 First Division Team of the Year, before helping them consolidate their presence in the Premier League. The spring of 1997 proved to be a rollercoaster for Middlesbrough, who lost to Leicester City in the League Cup Final before taking on Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. Cox was unable to participate, however, after getting into a heated altercation with teammate Fabrizio Ravanelli over the Italian’s fitness prior to the game and being dropped on the morning of the final. Ravanelli lasted just 24 minutes before begging to be subbed off, having previously claimed that he was fit, whilst Chelsea prevailed 2-0. Shortly after, Boro were docked three points for failing to fulfill a fixture following a flu outbreak in the squad and were relegated to the second tier. Cox eventually decided to leave for Bolton Wanderers in 1997, where he led them to the verge of promotion only to lose to Watford. Six months later, Cox made the move to Watford for £500,000, where, after suffering relegation and being dropped to the reserves, he would insert himself into the Hornets’ defense due to an injury crisis. “Watford was a strange one, because obviously, Colin Todd got the sack, Sam Allardyce had come in at Bolton, and I was out of contract at the end of the season, and he had 4 or 5 months left. Big Sam says, ‘We need some money, and W
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