Viv Anderson

At 68 years old, Viv Anderson has this physical status:

Vivian Alexander Anderson, MBE (born 29 July 1956) is an English football coach and former player.

Born in Clifton, Nottingham, he played for various clubs in The Football League in the 1970s and 1980s, including Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday.

He is also notable for being the first black football player to represent England in a full international match.

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Early life and playing career

Anderson was born in Clifton, Nottinghamshire. Audley and Myrtle's parents were both from Jamaica. Audley came from England in 1954, when Myrtle arrived in 1955. Despite the racial turmoil at the time, Anderson has said his childhood was relatively untroubled by bigotry, and his parents owe a lot to his for shielding him from the worst excesses of the culture they lived in. Before being released, he spent a year as a schoolboy with Manchester United. He was a student at Nottingham University and earned three CSEs. He worked as a silkscreen printer for three weeks before referring to him as "a glorified tea boy" in the story. I'd like the tea and the sandwiches at lunch time and then have the sandwiches. I was just a dogsbody." Anderson was recruited into the Nottingham Forest team in 1974 and became a regular after the arrival of Brian Clough as the team's manager, later in the Second Division in 1975. He was part of the side that won promotion to the First Division in 1977, winning the title and the League Cup a year later.

Anderson was one of the first black players to play for top English clubs at the time, and he had received racial abuse from supporters of rival teams. He was regularly pelted with bananas and pelted with racist chants.

Anderson made his England debut against Czechoslovakia in November 1978 during a friendly against Czechoslovakia. After Paul Reaney, who had first played for England in 1968, he became the second non-white footballer to represent the men's senior England team. Despite the ever-rising number of young black stars in the game, born and raised in England, coach Ron Greenwood was adamant that no political issue was at stake. Anderson was unquestionably a member of a form team this season, and he was not given his call-up entirely on merit. He was a gangly, uncomfortable figure, and he was also a quick going forward and occasionally scored key goals. Vindication of his merit was expanded when Anderson was a member of the Forest team that retained the League Cup (though he missed the final due to injury), and then clinched the European Cup in 1979 with a victory over Malmö.

In June 1979, he was in a friendly against Sweden for his second cap. England defeated Bulgaria 2–0 at Wembley Stadium in a qualifier for the 1980 European Championships, his third appearance in the competition was his first international competition.

Anderson continued to impress for Forest during this period, winning their second European Cup winners' medal when they retained the trophy with a victory over Hamburger SV in Madrid. Forest made it to their third straight League final this year, but they lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

England had progressed to the European Championship finals in Italy, and Anderson was named in Greenwood's squad, playing in the final group game against Spain as a replacement for Neal. England won 2–1 but didn't move forward. Anderson won by 4–0 over Norway in a qualifier for the 1982 World Cup qualifier. The primary competition for the No. 2 was now between Neal and Anderson. However, two shirts were worn in qualifying for the World Cup, and then neither were appropriate for the role.

Greenwood couldn't have lost Kevin Keegan, so the skipper Mick Mills, who had been a left-back, was put in the right-back slot (with regular incumbent Kenny Sansom remaining on the left), and Neal and Anderson were ruled out. Neal played against Kuwait in the last group game to rest Mills, but Mills returned for the second phase, after which England was barred. Anderson, on the other hand, never kicked a ball.

Anderson's England career seemed to be stalling as Forest began to fall from grace (the ageing side was broken, and the 1980 European Cup win was to be their last trophy for nine years). He did not appear at all under new coach Bobby Robson until 1984, with Neal mostly receiving the nod after the World Cup and Greenwood's departure. During this period, England failed to qualify for the 1984 European Championships.

Anderson earned his 11th cap in April 1984, almost two years after his tenth. He hoped to return to Arsenal for £250,000 in the same year. Anderson used this to revitalize his international career, winning six caps from 1984 to 1985, including four qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, in which he scored his first international goals in an 8–0 mauling of Turkey. Then Robson made his debut to the young Everton right-back Gary Stevens, who was so charming that Anderson was asked to reconsider himself. Robson modified his pick policy, but Stevens made slightly more appearances than Anderson as England completed their qualification for Mexico, and although both players were in the squad for the finals, it was clear that Anderson was once more reserve than reserve.

Anderson earned three caps at the end of 1986, when England first began to qualify for the 1988 European Championships in Germany. Anderson scored his second and final international goal in one of the qualifiers against Yugoslavia.

He had some success for the first time in seven years as Arsenal defeated Liverpool 2–1 in the League Cup final in 1987.

Alex Ferguson's first signing after taking over as manager of Manchester United came later this year, after a tribunal decided a £250,000 fee.

Meanwhile, Stevens forced his way back into the European Championships as England qualified for the European Championships, while Anderson earned his 30th and (what seemed to be) final cap in a Rous Cup match against Colombia, but the team was still in reserve when the squad moved to Germany for the finals. Stevens came out for criticism, but he retained his place. Anderson had traveled to a major international tournament for the third time. He did not have a minute on the pitch. Robson began to look at Stevens' younger age, and Anderson's international career came to an end.

Alex Ferguson's rebuilding efforts started at Old Trafford Anderson, who was a key part of the club's 1967 championship campaign to bring a title winning team to an end. Ferguson had steered United from 21st to 11th of 22 First Division clubs in the first six months of the season after a rough start to the 1986–87 season that had cost Ron Atkinson's job on November 5th. Anderson was instrumental in United's continued success in 1987–88, finishing second in the league, but Liverpool never really looked like resurrecting Liverpool, who finished second by a nine-point margin, despite having just two losses all season and a 29-match unbeaten start to the 40-game campaign.

Anderson remained first-choice right-back from 1988–89, but United got off to a rocky start to the season and dropped to third place by mid-February in the second quarter, a dismal final quarter of the season dragged them down to 11th place. United won the FA Cup in 1989–90, despite finishing 13th in the league, but Anderson was not in the squad for the final. He had played 21 games in all competitions this season, but Alex Ferguson had chosen Paul Ince, who was normally a central midfielder, as his right-back for the first match (a 3–3 draw with Crystal Palace) and later, a 1–0 victory.

Ferguson paid Denis Irwin, the first choice right-back who quickly established himself as the first choice right-back, and Anderson's hopes of winning his place back in the 1990-91 season were shattered. Ince switched back to central midfield. He appeared in just three more games for the club, and on his last appearance for them in the Football League Cup second leg against Halifax Town on October 10, 1990, he scored their first goal in a 5–2 aggregate victory.

Anderson joined Sheffield Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer in January 1991, helping them advance from the Second Division, but he missed the League Cup final over Manchester United because he had worked for his old club earlier in the season. Despite being thought of as a short-term commitment, Anderson remained in the Wednesday first team and captained the team on several occasions. In the first season of the Premier League, he was active in the Owls team, finishing third in the 1991–92 First Division and seventh in the seventh season. He also helped Wednesday qualify for the FA Cup and League Cup final in 1993, but the club lost in both finals to Arsenal.

Anderson's demeanor made him a natural pick for leadership, and after Mel Machin's departure in June 1993, he left Hillsborough to become Barnsley's player-manager. However, Barnsley's first season in Oakwell was a letdown, with Barnsley barely escaping relegation to Division Two.

Anderson left Barnsley after just a year to become Middlesbrough's assistant manager under former Old Trafford teammate Bryan Robson.

Anderson retired from playing football in 1994 and was still a member of Middlesbrough's traumatic injury outbreak, and the club won two games in 1994-95 as the Premier League's Division One champions. After receiving promotions, he finally hung up his playing boots.

Anderson assisted Robson in assembling a team that qualified in both domestic cup finals (both of whom lost) in 1996–97, but they were forced to forfeit a December match due to a three-point penalty for missing a December fixture due to a large number of players being unable to participate due to sickness or injury. Boro earned promotion at the first attempt, and they were also runners-up in the League Cup this year. When Terry Venables was brought into the club facing relegation, Robson and Anderson left Middlesbrough in June 2001. Despite never finishing higher than ninth place in the final table, the pair did manage to establish Boro in the Premier League.

After football career

Since leaving the assistant manager's position at Middlesbrough, Anderson hasn't been employed in football.

Anderson was granted the right-back slot by Forest supporters in 1997, winning 96% of the vote.

In January 2000, he was granted an MBE.

Anderson was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 for his contributions to the English league. He remains a passionate promoter of the National Football Museum and attends special events at the museum.

Anderson owned a sports travel business as well as a goodwill ambassador for the Football Association from 2005 to 2005. Anderson appears on MUTV as a regular guest pundit; Manchester United's official television station.

One of Viv Anderson's shirts on sale in the Main Galleries is on display at the People's History Museum in Manchester. The shirt was worn on his debut against Czechoslovakia in 1978.

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