John Anderson (born 28 November 1931) is a Scottish television personality best known as referee and official trainer on the UK television show ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

''. Anderson has previously worked as a teacher and coach for Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games athletes.

Career

Anderson had a successful career long before his athletics and TV fame. Plaudits included representing Scotland as a schoolboy footballer, becoming the first home Scot to gain the prestigious Full FA Coaching Certificate (then only four were awarded per year), being one of only two confirmed recipients (along with

Wilf Paish Wilfred Henry Charles Paish MBE (29 July 1932 – 29 January 2010) was a British athletics coach. He helped train athletes such as Olympic champion Tessa Sanderson, Mick Hill and Peter Elliott. Paish was chief coach for South Africa at the ...

) of every British Senior Coaching award available, and founding Maryhill Ladies AC in Glasgow. Anderson coached Commonwealth Games champion and former World Record Holder

David Moorcroft David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as ...

, The partnership started in 1966. It was a coach-athlete relationship which would lead to a world record for 5000m in 1982 and even a vets world record for the Mile of 4:02 a decade later, in 1993. Anderson also coached three-time Olympic heptathlete Judy Simpson (known as Nightshade on Gladiators); double Olympian Sheila Carey; marathoner John Graham; 1988 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist

Liz McColgan Elizabeth Nuttall (née Lynch, formerly McColgan; born 24 May 1964) is a Scottish former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete. She won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships, and a ...

; middle-distance runner

Lynne MacDougall Lynne MacDougall (born 18 February 1965) is a Scottish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. She represented Great Britain at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Great Britain at the Athletics at the 198 ...

; 1972 Olympic 4×400m silver medallist David Jenkins, and sprint hurdler David Wilson. Anderson was National Coach for the Amateur Athletics Association of England and subsequently the first full-time National Coach in Scotland (1965-1970). He was coach to an Olympian at every Olympics from 1964 to 2000 and has coached five world record holders and an estimated 170 GB Internationals in every Track and Field event. Anderson was the head official on sports game show ''

'' from 1992–2000. Before every event he called: "Contender ready! Gladiator ready!" followed by "Three! Two! One!" before starting the game. In 2008, Anderson briefly reprised his role as referee on the newly revived ''

'' before leaving due to his retirement from TV refereeing, and being replaced by John Coyle after just one series. The series was subsequently not renewed any further. Anderson occasionally appears in cameo roles as a referee, including guest appearances on two episodes of 2016's ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'' with Chris Evans and

Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc re ...

, and as an ident-voiceover for Sky's Challenge TV. After his television career in the 1990s, Anderson went on to become a mentor and coach for a number of recent international athletes, including Great British athlete

William Sharman William "Will" Sharman (born 12 September 1984) is a British athlete who specialises in the 110 metres hurdles. He started his career as a junior high jumper and decathlete, but focused entirely on hurdling after a shoulder injury. He made his ...

, whom he helped transform from a decathlete to a world class sprint hurdler, and continues to coach on a small scale.http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=201273; Anderson currently mentors and coaches William Sharman and Charlie Eastaugh.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John Living people Scottish television personalities 1931 births Sportspeople from Glasgow People educated at Queen's Park Secondary School British Olympic coaches British athletics coaches Scottish sports coaches Alumni of the Open University Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Schoolteachers from Glasgow Association football coaches Mass media people from Glasgow Gladiators (1992 British TV series)