John Christopher Patrick Anderson (born 7 November 1959) is a former professional

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 ...

who played as a defender. He represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, and played for club sides

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Club career

Anderson was on the books of

between 1976 and 1979. Despite playing in 92 reserve team games for the club, he never made a single first team appearance for the club in a major competition. Anderson signed for

in 1982 on a free transfer from

. His signing was low key because the club had recently pulled off a major coup in signing England captain

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

. A very versatile player, Anderson made his debut in the 2–1 win at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

on 1 September 1982. In 1983–84, Anderson played in one of the most entertaining sides in Newcastle's history as the club scored 85 goals and gained promotion back to the top flight, in a side that featured Keegan,

Chris Waddle Christopher Roland Waddle (born 14 December 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. He currently works as a commentator. Nicknamed "Magic Chris", football journalist Luke Ginnell wrote that Waddle was "widely ackn ...

Peter Beardsley Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder between 1979 and 1999. In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his coun ...

and

Terry McDermott Terence McDermott (born 8 December 1951) is an English former football midfielder who was a member of the Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s, in which he won three European Cups and five First Division titles. He was capped 25 times ...

. Anderson played in 41 of the 42 league matches that season. He was given a testimonial by the club in 1992 after 10 years as a Newcastle United player, during which time he made 337 league appearances, scoring 14 goals. One of his goals was a 25-yard free kick in a game at

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cassi ...

in the early 1990s against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

International career

Anderson represented the Republic of Ireland at schoolboy, youth and under-21 levels. Anderson's only international goal was the match winner in the 3–2 victory over the US in a friendly game at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

on 29 October 1979. This was only his second

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Pierce O'Leary Pierce O'Leary (born 5 November 1959) is an Irish former professional footballer. Pierce is the brother of former Arsenal star and fellow Irish international David O'Leary. Playing career Born in Dublin, O'Leary signed for Shamrock Rovers i ...

. It was a much better result than his first cap, also as a substitute but for John Devine. That game was the 4–1 defeat to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, played in the

Stadion Evžena Rošického Stadion Evžena Rošického, also known simply as Strahov, is a multi-purpose stadium in Strahov, Prague in the Czech Republic. It hosted the 1978 European Athletics Championships and for many years this was the venue for main annual internatio ...

on 26 September 1979. Anderson's first international start came in the 1–0 defeat to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, played in the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

on 22 May 1982. He won 16 caps for the full team and was in the squad for the 1988 European Championship finals, although he was an unused substitute for all of the three Group B matches. He missed out on going to the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

in Italy. His last game for Ireland was in the testimonial for

Peadar O'Driscoll Peadar is a masculine given name in the Irish, and Scottish Gaelic languages (in Manx Gaelic orthography the same name is rendered "Peddyr"). The names are ultimately derived from the Greek word ''petros'', meaning "stone", "rock". The Scottish ...

against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 19 October 1988, with Ireland winning, 4–0.

After football

Anderson retired from playing football in 1992. He was always a fans' favourite at

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Park ...

and he is regularly asked to come to the club for ex-players' events. He also works as an analyst on Republic of Ireland international matches for RTÉ radio and summariser on Newcastle games for

BBC Radio Newcastle BBC Radio Newcastle is the BBC's local radio station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, the neighbouring metropolitan boroughs, Northumberland and north east County Durham. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from BBC studio ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John Living people 1959 births Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland association footballers Preston North End F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Association football defenders UEFA Euro 1988 players Republic of Ireland international footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers English Football League players Stella Maris F.C. players