Ex-Crawley Town, Brighton and Hove Albion and Leyton Orient star on playing at Wembley, a 'clash of characters' with former Leeds United and Liverpool player and what is next after hanging up his boots

Whether it be at Brighton and Hove Albion, Crawley Town, Leyton Orient or Eastbourne Borough, the midfielder has always been a fans’ favourite. And after announcing his retirement from playing at the beginning of October, he now wants to be favourite on the sidelines with a move into coaching.

The 35-year-old enjoyed a career involving more than 470 professional games, 81 goals and 102 assists. He has played and scored at Wembley in a League One play-off final and ended his career in Sussex - at Worthing. And now, after a short break from the game he is chomping at the bit to get back.

As you can imagine, he has already had offers, but he is waiting for that right opportunity to pass on his experience. But why was October 1, 2022 the right time for Cox to call it a day from playing?

“Family,” he said. “I wanted to be around them a bit more.” Cox has two young children - Ayla, 4, and Arthur, 15 months - with wife Louisa and they also have two foster children aged nine and 10.

But it wasn't just that. “I was also coming to an age where it was harder to recover from the games - and some of the games I didn’t feel I was doing myself justice and my head has overruled my heart,” said Dean. “I knew the time was right. I started pre-season and started a few games and probably should have made the decision before pre-season. But being in the game so long it’s hard just to let go.

“I wanted a break but I have got the football bug and I want to get back in the game in any capacity. I will help anyone. I want to coach and maybe one day become a manager? Who knows.”

SEE ALSO Former Crawley Town star backs Lewis Young to get job permanently - and would 'snap his hand off' to work with him

Ever since he was a kid growing up in Haywards Heath, he wanted to be a professional footballer and they day he signed those forms at Brighton was a day he will never forget.He said: “To become a pro was my dream so to be told I was getting a contract at Brighton was unbelievable. I count myself very lucky to have played for Brighton, Crawley, Leyton Orient, Eastbourne and Worthing. They are fantastic football clubs.”

After 174 games for the Albion - with loan spells at Eastbourne Borough and Bognor Regis Town - he joined Leyton Orient and this is where he enjoyed his big moments in football.

“I played my best consistent football at Leyton Orient,” he said. “To get a play off final at Wembley was amazing, although we did not win. We had some great FA Cup ties, we drew with Arsenal, got the replay at the Emirates.

“Just being able to put on a Brighton, Crawley and Orient shirt just meant everything to me. That’s what you trained everyday for and why your mum and dad [Beverly and Steve] drove you up and down the country for. To go from Sunday Leaguer to that is something I cherish.”

But where there are highs, there are always lows. “We got relegated from League One at Orient. We had an owner [Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti] who was detrimental to the club at the time.

“He certainly wasn’t what we thought when he came in. We were penalty kicks away from the Championship, we thought he was coming in to pump a bit of money into the playing squad but it did not pan out that way. That was a big low. Doing my cruciate ligament, which meant I was out for eight months, that was hard to deal with at the time. It was cruel having to go in for treatment and watch the lads train, it was a long eight months.”

After Leyton Orient, it was on to Crawley Town - by way of a loan spell at Burgess Hill Town under Ian Chapman - where he enjoyed a spell under the late Dermot Drummy. After Drummy was let go by the club, Harry Kewell came in and that’s where it started going wrong for Cox at the Broadfield Stadium.

He said: “Bless Dermot, we had a fantastic rapport and I still miss him now, he was such an infectious man. It was a little bit of character clash with Harry Kewell. I didn’t agree with the way I was treated, not being in the squad and being made to train on my own. It ended sourly but it didn’t tarnish my time at Crawley. I got on well with the fans and they appreciated me.”

Cox then dropped down a couple of levels and played in the National League South with a spell at Eastbourne Borough, where he found life a little bit different. “The difficultly is you are not training every day, you are only doing it on a Tuesday and Thursday,” he said. “And that was in the evening so it took a while to adjust. I loved training everyday, so to do that was like ‘what do I do with the rest of the time?!’.

“We foster, we have two foster children so me and the wife started doing that to have a bit of a focus. Then we had another baby so we had two babies and two foster kids so it was a busy household.

“It was a lot to adjust to but it was nice. But the day to day camaraderie with the players and management staff was sorely missed and still is and what I miss most. If I can get back in that environment then great.”

So now it’s time for Cox to find the right role at the right the club. “I am hoping something might come my way,” he said. “I have had some offers, some are okay, some or not so okay. I think it’s choosing the right one - whether that be the project of the role. I wouldn’t mind any role but coaching would be my number one choice.”