Sad to see Fox go but time is on his side in his career
FANS WILL KEEP AN EYE ON HIS PROGRESS AT GRIMSBY
THERE is a certain sadness about Ben Fox leaving Burton Albion without quite becoming the key regular member of the team that most Brewers fans hoped he would be.
Every fan likes to see a lad born in the same town as their team make it, especially one as transparently proud of breaking through and as personable as Fox.
And it looked like he would. But, like any career, there can be bumps in the road and, sometimes, progress is about being in the right place at the right time more than it is about ability.
So it is that Fox has moved on to Grimsby Town after his release from the Brewers and he goes with the good wishes and hopes for a bright future ringing in his ears from inside and outside the club.
In football, while a player never wants to get injured, the timing of a serious injury can set you back more than merely the time it takes you to get fit again.
I digress a little, but Jimmy Phillips springs to mind.
In the 2013-14 League Two season, the tricky winger was finally starting to fulfil the promise that had been evident for several seasons.
Manager Gary Rowett has persevered with him and he played 37 times but tore his anterior cruciate ligament in April away to Newport County.
By the time he had returned to fitness, in December, Rowett had gone and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had not seen Phillips play.
Burton had moved on and a strong squad was heading for the League Two title.
Under Hasselbaink, Phillips made an 89th-minute substitute appearthe ance in a Boxing Day win over Tranmere Rovers and that was it.
By March he was playing for Alfreton Town on loan, before trying his luck with Gateshead and finally playing for Mickleover Sports – although he is still only 31.
Let us hope Fox has more luck, after seeing his career interrupted, losing the whole 2019-20 campaign to a pre-season cruciate ligament injury, which he recovered from just in time to sit on the bench once for the first team and then see the pandemic end things early.
He started last season in the team but, along with most others, struggled for form and then could not get a game when Hasselbaink arrived and had a combination of Ryan Edwards, Sean Clare, Michael Mancienne and Terry Taylor dominating the midfield areas Fox would like to have been playing in.
His career had started so well after graduating from the academy and he had made himself popular by chatting to supporters and always helping out with things like school visits and helping out with younger age groups training with the Brewers.
His debut came against Liverpool in the League Cup in August 2016, quite an experience, and the following season he headed the winner in a 2-1 win away to Cardiff City in the same competition, before heading out for a successful loan with Gateshead.
The 2018-19 season brought 36 appearances and he had arrived.
There was a memorable first League goal, a neat close-range finish late in the game to beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 after he had come off the bench in the 55th minute.
He played in all the rounds of the Carabao Cup, including the semifinal against Manchester City.
game that really stood out for me, though, was four days before the visit to the Etihad Stadium, when the Brewers won 4-0 away to Rochdale.
Not, at that time, reporting on the Brewers, I was in the stands as Marcus Harness took the headlines and the match ball with a marvellous first career hat-trick.
The other outstanding performance on the day, though, was that of Fox at right-back.
It was perhaps not his preferred position but he was utterly unruffled, calm, authoritative, sensible on the ball, getting forward without neglecting his defensive duties – and not afraid to boss team-mates about.
A friend sat behind me watched this for an hour and said “future Burton Albion captain.”
No-one disagreed, nor did anyone have the slightest doubt which player he was talking about.
Alas, Fox was not to appear on the pitch the following season but he was still to be seen, still chatting to people, still being part of the club, cheerfully putting a brave face on the most disheartening situation.
I interviewed him in December as he worked towards fitness.
It was cold in the stand but he was colder: “I’ve just got out of an ice bath. It gets to your soul, it really does!” he said.
He spoke wisely of spinning the negative into a positive: the recovery regime allowed him to build up other aspects of his fitness, the theory being that he would come back stronger – as he had seen Liam Boyce do.
He probably has come back stronger, too, but, at 23, the challenge of making a good career as a professional footballer now starts again in the National League, under Paul Hurst at Grimsby.
There has never been much love lost between the two clubs but plenty of Burton fans will be following Fox’s progress with interest this coming season.