Dave Anderson (born 11 March 1962) is a Northern Irish media personality and former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and manager, best known for his role as manager of AFC Wimbledon from 2004 to 2007. He is currently manager of Chertsey Town. A

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

in his playing days, Anderson played senior football for

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

and Bangor and internationally for Northern Ireland B before retiring prematurely through injury. Anderson moved back to England and embarked on a career in management at

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

level, being associated with over ten teams in the course of a career lasting over two decades. Anderson is also a regular contributor to

BBC Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

's show about non-League football, the Non-League Football Show.

Playing career

Anderson was a

during his playing days and had youth contracts with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. He went home to Northern Ireland to play for

and Bangor, where he was the youngest player to travel in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. He represented

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

at Schoolboy, Youth and B level. While at Bangor his playing career was prematurely ended by injury, at the age of 23.

Management

Anderson subsequently moved back to England where he lived in Manchester: he was childhood friends with Manchester United player

Norman Whiteside Norman Whiteside (born 7 May 1965) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Whiteside began his career at Manchester United, signing professional forms in 1982 at the age of 17 and quickly be ...

. After a spell out of football he moved to London, where he met his wife at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

player Alan McDonald's wedding, and approached football again through non-League in around 1984 through his friendship with McDonald and fellow QPR player Ian Stewart. Anderson went on to hold back-room and managerial roles at

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

Aylesbury United Aylesbury United Football Club is a football club based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. They are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League and play at Chesham United's Meadow ground, having been evicted from their ...

, St Albans City, Harrow Borough (where he was assistant manager on three separate occasions),

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

and North Greenford United. Anderson was assistant manager at Hendon from 1999 to 2001 before taking the manager's position. In his last three seasons with the club he led them to eighth, third and fourth-place finishes in the

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

, along with three consecutive victories in the

Middlesex Senior Cup The Middlesex Senior Cup is the most prestigious football cup competition in the historic county of Middlesex, England. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although league clubs have been known to enter the compe ...

. Anderson was appointed as AFC Wimbledon manager by then-chairman

Kris Stewart Kris Stewart (born February 9, 1967 in Portsmouth) is the founding chairman of English football club AFC Wimbledon and a left wing political activist. He was the club's chief executive and is also a CIMA past finalist management accountant. Unde ...

in the summer of 2004, taking with him his backroom staff from Hendon. In 2004–05, his first season in charge, Anderson successfully led the club to

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

, winning a league and cup double consisting of the

Isthmian League First Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

and the Surrey Senior Cup. After a tough season in 2005–06 the Dons eventually finished trophy-less after losing out in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

and defeat in the Surrey Senior Cup final to local rivals Kingstonian. Anderson's objective for the 2006–07 season was no less than promotion, and following a defeat against

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

in the play-off semi-final, Anderson stepped down from the job on 2 May 2007. Anderson went on to the assistant position at Windsor and Eton, though he maintained a desire for a position as first team manager and thus subsequently left the club that October, joining former club St Albans City as manager. He was sacked in January 2008, having failed to turn around the club's fortunes. Following eight months out of management Anderson took the management job at Northwood. The club enjoyed their best ever run in the FA Trophy and missed out on a play-off spot by one point in the 2008–2009 season. He departed Northwood unexpectedly in March 2010, citing both personal reasons and the club's financial difficulties at the time in his resignation. On 10 June 2010 Anderson was announced as assistant manager of

Slough Town Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...

, following the decision of former assistant

Darren Salton Darren Brian Salton (born 16 March 1972 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former under-21 international footballer, whose career was cut short by injuries suffered in a car accident. Playing career Darren Salton joined Luton Town as a trainee in 1 ...

to stand down due to the travel required for the job. In June 2011, Anderson left Slough Town to take on the manager's role at Harrow Borough after David Howell left Harrow. In March 2018 he was appointed manager of Chertsey Town. He retired from football in May 2019 after winning

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

and guiding Chertsey to FA Vase victory, becoming the first club in Surrey to win it. Anderson came out of retirement to join

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in April 2021 as goalkeeping coach and assistant to first team coach

Simon Bassey Simon James Bassey (born 5 February 1976) is an English former Association football, footballer. During his playing career he played as a midfielder. Bassey was also temporary caretaker manager/coach at Portsmouth F.C, Portsmouth from 3 January ...

. He reverted to a first team coaching role following Bassey's departure. Anderson left the Bees in April 2022. In October 2022, Anderson returned to Chertsey Town as manager.

Media work

Anderson is a regular presenter and contributor to

BBC Radio Five Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...

's weekly programme about non-League football, the Non-League Football Show. He also hosts podcast “The Non League Gaffer Tapes” where he interviews managers one on one. Series put on hold due to COVID

Personal life

Anderson is married with a son (Sam) and a daughter (Lucy).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Dave 1962 births Living people Association footballers from Northern Ireland Bangor F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Football managers from Northern Ireland Enfield F.C. managers Aylesbury United F.C. managers St Albans City F.C. managers Harrow Borough F.C. managers Southall F.C. managers North Greenford United F.C. managers Hendon F.C. managers AFC Wimbledon managers Northwood F.C. managers Chertsey Town F.C. managers Barnet F.C. non-playing staff Isthmian League managers Association football goalkeepers