Gershom Cox (28 September 1863 – October–December 1918) was an English professional footballer who played as a full-back for Aston Villa from 1887 to 1893.
[3][4] Until a chance discovery in 2013, his main claim to fame had been that he scored the first goal in The Football League 31 minutes after kick-off on the first day of the inaugural season, 1888-89 on 8 September 1888 for Aston Villa against their Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
As of 2013, Kenny Davenport is regarded as scorer of the first ever Football League goal, scoring for Bolton Wanderers at 3:47pm on 7 September 1888 against Derby County.
[6] Gershom Cox, playing as a full–back, made his League debut on 8 September 1888 at Dudley Road, the then home of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Gershom Cox, playing at full–back (22 appearances), was part of the Aston Villa defence that achieved one League clean–sheet and kept the opposition to one–League–goal–in–a–match on no less than nine occasions.