Oscar Fox

Oscar Fox formed a devastating partnership with Dickie Bond during City’s golden age. Fox was City’s leading scorer in the three seasons prior to the First World War, when the club was at its zenith.

Born Sheffield in 1889, he joined City in November 1910 from Castleford Town. Fox made his debut against Oldham Athletic on 18th February 1911 and went onto to score 60 goals in 175 appearances. A healthy strike rate by any standard, but what makes the feat even more impressive is that all his goals were scored in the top flight.

During the First World War Oscar enlisted with the Bradford Pals. Service number 20/184, he was promoted to Corporal. He served in the 20th West Yorkshire Regiment (reserve Battalion for the Pals). He also served with the 2/5 West Yorkshire’s and was discharged on 25th July, 1918.

Oscar received £450 from his benefit match against Middlesbrough on 8th October 1921. He retired in the summer of 1922 following City’s relegation from Division One. He returned to his native Sheffield where he found employment in a billiards saloon. He died in Sheffield in October 1947, aged 54. His son, also Oscar, played nearly 300 games for Sheffield Wednesday and Mansfield Town.

Time has not been kind to this contemporary cartoon. We've fixed it up as well as we can, but the Bantam in the bottom left-hand corner has almost disappeared. Still, it shows just how much Oscar was respected by fans and feared by the opposition as a potent goal-scorer.

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