It still upsets me: Former Argyle midfielder David Fox speaks out on relegation

The first of a two-part interview with the popular former Pilgrims' player.


Former Plymouth Argyle midfielder David Fox has admitted the club’s painful relegation from League One last season still plays on his mind all the time.

Fox thought ‘it should never have got to that point’ where the Pilgrims lost their status in the third tier of English football.

But the 35-year-old conceded it had been ‘a fractured club for a couple of months’ as Argyle plummeted into relegation trouble.

That culminated in what described as ‘the Accrington debacle’, when they were hammered 5-1 in their penultimate match.

Manager Derek Adams was sacked in the aftermath, but even a season-ending 3-2 win against Scunthorpe United at Home Park was not enough to save the Pilgrims.

They were relegated on goal difference, with Fox among the players to leave after the end of the season.

Fox told Plymouth Live: “It bugs me it really does. It should never have got to that point, through so many different factors.

“The club should have been looking to push on again. I felt they were in a position, off the pitch with everything going on, to do that.

“I feel like the club made a lot of strides in the time I was at the club off the pitch and it should have been matched on the pitch, and it wasn’t.”

He added: “If it means you had to take a step back to go on again then fair enough, but it should never have got to that point.

“It still upsets me, the fact they are back in League Two. It’s not where they should be, not at all.”

Even at the age of 35, Fox was a regular for Argyle last term, making 40 starts and three substitute appearances in League One.

The Pilgrims were mid-table in March but then went on a run of eight games without a win, losing six of them, as they spiralled down the table and ultimately to relegation.

Fox said: “I still think about it all the time, the weeks leading up to that point and the inability to stop what was going on.

“There was just this snowball effect that we couldn’t stop. It was a really bad place for them last few weeks.

“It culminated in the Accrington debacle and everything that was with it.”

Argyle went to Accrington knowing a win would keep them up but, instead, they trailed 3-0 at half-tie and were 5-0 down after 66 minutes.

Fox said: “No-one saw that coming. It was one of those games. We were against the wind in the first half and it was just brutal.

“It really was, and it didn’t get much better after that. That was a real low point.”

There was still an opportunity for Argyle to save themselves by beating Scunthorpe, but with AFC Wimbledon drawing and Southend United winning they were still relegated.

Fox said: “I thought that Scunthorpe result was really big. We had to win that game, no matter what.

“I thought that would have been enough to keep us up. There was a real togetherness of everyone that day.

It was a fractured club for a couple of months before then and I think that game brought everyone together.

“That was an important victory even though we went down.

“With everyone turning up and really putting the effort in to get behind the lads, I thought it was a good victory even though ultimately it was not enough.”

Fox, who is without a club at the moment but still looking for one, has backed Ryan Lowe, the successor to Adams, to lead Argyle back to League One.

He said: “I made my debut with him all those years ago at Shrewsbury, when I was on loan (from Manchester United), and then he came to Crewe for a few months.

“He has done really well at his previous club (Bury) and he understands the club he’s at now.

“I spoke to him in the summer and I said to him it was an unbelievable club to work for, and he was buzzing for it. He was looking forward to it.

“He knows full well what’s expected of him but he has been at big clubs himself.

“He has got a way of playing and he’s going to stick to it. He has got history of getting a club out of this league.

“It’s early days and I’m sure he’s not quite where he wants to be (in the league table), but there is a long way to go and I feel like the team is fully equipped to go back up, absolutely.”

Fox’s departure from Argyle in May ended a three-season stint at the club for him.

With his wife and three children living in the north-west of England, playing for Argyle meant he spent a lot of time away from them.

That increasingly took a toll on not only him but his family and left him with no option but to leave the Pilgrims.

Fox said: “It was difficult. It was difficult on them as well I think. The two elder ones were at an age where they were starting to miss me.

“My youngest, he called me Dave. He didn’t even call me Dad because I was there for a couple of days a week.

“We laugh about it now but it’s not easy. It’s difficult on everyone but I was loving my work.

“I loved the games, I loved training but, obviously with everything that was happening last season, it was really tough.

“I found it hard. I think if last season would have been a lot better I would probably have stayed.

“It was a big strain on everyone really and that made it that I had to go back home really.

“The work was tough as well, whereas the first two years it masked over a lot of things that were going on

In part two of this interview , Fox will talk about his life after Argyle and what the future holds for him.

David Fox is still holding out hope of a return to professional football but admits, at the age of 35, his time as a player might have come to an end.

Two months into the 2010/20 campaign, the midfielder is still without a club after leaving Plymouth Argyle in the summer.

Fox was offered a new contract to stay with the Pilgrims but turned it down because he did not want to be so far away from his wife and three children in the north-west of England.

It looked like he would get a contract at National League club Barrow after being on trial in pre-season but that did not materialise in the end.

Fox still hopes something might crop up for him and he could sign for a club as a free agent.

But he has also come to terms with the idea that a playing career which saw him start out as a young prospect at Manchester United and play in the Premier League for Norwich City could be over.

Fox discussed his plans for the future in an interview with Plymouth Live.

He said: “Football-wise, I’m still hopeful there might be something, but as the days and weeks go by you kind of realise that’s not quite going to happen.

“So, if that’s the case, fair enough. I’m doing a bit with a football website on some grassroots coaching that I’m really interested in.

“I’m going to start my coaching badges in the next couple of months, and also do a bit of scouting on the recruitment side of things, which I’m quite keen on, to try and find some good players.”

Fox made 43 appearances for Argyle in League One last season, a campaign which ended in a bitterly disappointing relegation.

He said: “Early on in the summer there was a few options. I had a couple of offers but it would have been a similar sort of routine as what I had at Plymouth.

“It wouldn’t have been as far but it would have been the same routine.

“I just thought there was no point, I might as well have stayed at Plymouth if I was going to be away for that much.

“I knew I was limiting myself with turning things down, and at my age and my position I knew it would be tough.

“I thought I had something sorted at Barrow. I did pre-season there with Evo (manager Ian Evatt), he’s brilliant.

“I thought I had a contract but circumstances changed and they needed a centre-half.

“The contract that was there for me unfortunately wasn’t there in the end, but that’s fine, I understood the situation.

“There’s not a lot of money around these days in the lower leagues with budgets.

“I think a lot of teams get players for youth loans and that’s how it is. I’m 35 and I had a good knock.

“If I don’t play again then I have made my peace with that.

I have played a few games with my brother, at a really low standard, just with his mates on a Saturday.

“I always wanted to play with my brother. I do miss it, but I have loved being at home and doing different things.”

Fox continued: “I feel like the season has gone on forever but we are still only 10-15 games in.

“When you are sat at home doing nothing it seems a long time but it’s still early days.

“I would still like to get something. I still keep myself fit. I have got an old team-mate that does personal training and I go for jogs here and there.

“I still try and do a bit. It’s not like all of a sudden I’m going to be a box to box player.

“I don’t really need too much, a bit of sharpness here and there and I think I will be alright.”

Fox admitted he might even consider part-time football, just to keep himself playing for as long as he can.

“The games are what you miss,” he said. “That’s what I have missed. Being at a loose end on the Saturdays is difficult.

“No-one wants to be pottering around on a Saturday afternoon with nothing to do.

“I miss the preparation for the game on a Saturday. It’s something I would like to keep doing if I can.

“I feel fit. I’m not like a lot of players that their body gives up on them.

“I played 45-50 games last season. I feel like to just stop there and then, I don’t think that’s the right thing for me to do.

“There are a few options I’m looking at, maybe the non-League route or maybe even part-time, just to keep playing because you are a long time not being able to do it.”

He added: “I don’t think I would ever officially retire, maybe about 45 I might say ‘That’s it’ if I’m still searching for a club.

“I don’t think I’m ready to knock it on the head completely but I also understand that it’s getting harder and harder now the longer you are out of it.”

For the time being, Fox is ready to get his football fix another way.

He was invited to work for BBC Radio Devon on their match commentary for Argyle’s 1-0 away win against Mansfield Town on Saturday.


It was a way for him to keep up his association with a club which he played a total of 142 games for.

Fox said: “I nearly went to Crewe for the first game of the season but I couldn’t make it in the end, something cropped up last minute.

“I will look to get to as many games up here as I can. It gets me out of the house and it’s a bit of work so why not?

“While you have got a few mates still at the club it gives you that connection, so I keep my eye on everything and look at how the lads are getting on.

“If I can get to a game then I will do, absolutely.”

im still upset he left

Angry wrote:

im still upset he left

Its understandable, least this was a genuine case of wanting to be nearer his family.