Ross County come to Dens on Saturday for the first match of the Ladbrokes Premiership season and so we take a look at a player who has played for both clubs, current Staggies keeper Scott Fox.
Fox was born in Bellshill in June 1987 and started his professional career at Celtic where he was part of the Celtic youth side that won the SPL Under-19 League and the Scottish Youth Cup two years in a row. He had signed for Celtic at 16 years of age after three years with Dundee United and played in the same Celtic youth team as Darren O’Dea as well as being part of the Scotland squad to go to the Under-19 European Championships in Poland..
Fox sat regularly on the bench for Gordon Strachan during 2008/09 and made 11 appearances on loan at East Fife the previous year but he failed to make a single first team appearance at Celtic Park.
However when his contract ran out at Parkhead and he was allowed to leave, Fox couldn’t sign for any other club unless they agreed to a development compensation due to being under 23 years of age. As this was potentially stopping from Fox from signing for another club, he took his case to FIFA but ultimately and he was unable to play for the next six months.
To try and get back in the game Fox joined Queen of the South in January 2010 when Gordon Smith signed him for The Doonhamers as an amateur and he made his Queens debut the following month in a 3-0 win over Ayr United at Palmerston in place of the injured David Hutton.
Fox made six appearances for Queens towards the end of the 2009/10 season but in the summer he joined Dundee under freedom of contract to join former boss Gordon Chisholm, who had moved to Dens Park in March.
Fox would face stiff opposition to be the Dark Blues’ first choice keeper as he was up against Dundee legend Robert Douglas but it was Fox who was given the number 1 shirt for the opening match of the 2010/11 season at home to Alloa in the ALBA Cup.
Despite the 2-1 win, Douglas was in goal for the next game at home to Montrose in the League Cup and when the First Division campaign kicked off against Scott’s former club Queen of the South, Douglas retained the number one shirt.
Fox however was given his second opportunity in the next round of the Challenge Cup away at Stenhousemuir but it turned out to be an embarrassing and disastrous night as The Dee crashed out with a 4-1 defeat at Ochilview.
Douglas was therefore back between the sticks in the aftermath but when he was sent off at home to Falkirk at the end of August, Fox came off the bench to replaced Leigh Griffiths for his first league appearance and the following week, started at East End Park with Douglas suspended.
The 3-1 defeat at Dunfermline however turned out to be Fox’s last game for Dundee because just three games later Dundee entered into administration for the second time on October 15th and Fox was one of the players released by the administrator.
Thankfully Scott wasn’t without a club for long as before the month was out he was offered a trial with Partick Thistle and played in a 4-0 win over Ayr United reserves. Fox was then offered a contract and made his first team debut on October 30th in a 1-0 win over Cowdenbeath at Firhill and in his second game for The Jags, faced Dundee on the day of the red card protest when a Jamie Adams 86th minute winner gave the Dark Blues their first post administration win and sent Dens Park rocking in the 2-1 victory.
At the end of the season Dundee had survived the 25 point penalty from the Scottish League and in Maryhill Scott Fox was named Partick Thistle Player of the Year.
Two years later Fox was part of the Partick side to win the First Division and promotion back to the SPL and he was named in the SPFA First Division Team of the Year.
Having played in the Under-20 World Cup in 2007, Fox was called up to the full Scotland squad in 2013 when his former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan called him up for the friendlies against the USA and Norway.
Two years later Fox left Firhill after 143 appearances for Partick and joined fellow Scottish Premiership side Ross County. Fox has been County’s first choice keeper for the last two seasons keeping 15 clean sheets in 71 appearances but he missed The Staggies League Cup win over Hibernian in March 2016 through injury.
Ross County, like Dundee will be looking to grab a top six spot this season and Scott Fox will undoubtedly be pivotal to whether then can achieve that for the second time in three years.
