John William Anderson (born 1878) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Career

Most likely born in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, Anderson started out at non-league

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Footba ...

before turning professional and joining Woolwich Arsenal in December 1896. He soon made his debut, in a

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

match away to

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

on 1 January 1897, which Arsenal lost 4–1. He was a mainstay for the rest of the 1896–97 season, playing all three half back positions; his continued versatility meant he remained a regular in the Arsenal side for the next five years. Anderson's best season for Woolwich Arsenal was 1900–01, where he only missed two league fixtures all season, though he was still being used as a utility man across midfield, without making any single position his own. He continued to be a regular for another season but after the arrival of

Roddy McEachrane Roderick John McEachrane (3 February 1877 – 16 November 1952) was a Scottish footballer, born in Inverness. McEachrane moved to Canning Town, London at the age of 20, to work at the Thames Iron Works, and joined the works football team, Tham ...

in 1902, he was squeezed out of the Woolwich Arsenal side; he only played eight games in

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

and left the club at the end of that season. In total he played 153 games for Arsenal, scoring eleven goals. He later joined Southern League

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

; he is not to be confused, however, with the

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

who played for Portsmouth in the 1930s.

References

* * 1878 births Year of death missing Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers English people of Scottish descent Men's association football wing halves Crook Town A.F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-midfielder-1870s-stub