Cross played for Third Division club Rochdale, where he scored against top-flight Coventry City in a third-round FA Cup game in 1971. He moved to Norwich City, with whom he won the Second Division championship in 1972. He joined Coventry City for £150,000, then a club record. In 1976–77, Cross scored hat-tricks on the opening and closing days the season, the only Coventry City player to do so in a league campaign. He joined West Bromwich Albion for £150,000 in November 1976, and made his Albion debut against Manchester City.