Maria Anderton (born 14 January 1969) is a 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 who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at international level. Anderton scored on her Football Ferns début after coming on as a substitute in a 7–0 win over

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

on 8 August 1993, and finished her international career with four caps and one goal to her credit. Her other international appearances were against Brazil, the USSR and Ghana. She began playing football as a 10-year-old primary school student in Gordonton, Waikato District, and then at

Fairfield College Fairfield College is a co-educational state secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand. Located in the north-east suburb of Fairfield, it was founded in 1957. Built on the site of a former dairy farm which is leased from Tainui iwi, it is one o ...

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton ( mi, Kirikiriroa) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's ...

. She represented

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

at U13, U14, U17 and U19 level and played club football for Hamilton AFC, Waikato Unicol, Western City and Te Awamutu FC before joining

Cambridge FC Cambridge F.C. is a football club based in Cambridge, New Zealand. It currently plays in the NRFL Division 2. In 2020, Cambridge finished 8th in a season shortened by restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, they came 5th in th ...

in 2002.Guest post when football delivers a fairy tale ending
/ref> She captained Cambridge's women's first team for 12 years before retiring from competitive football in 2014, having helped her team win the Waikato Cup in her final match.

honoured her long service and achievements by presenting Anderton with a Special Achievement Award in October 2014, noting that in more than 800 competitive games over 35 consecutive seasons she had never received a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

. She was awarded the club's Women's Player of the Year Award for her final season. Anderton was awarded a Services to Sport Medal at the Waipa Networks District Sports Awards in November 2014 in recognition of her 35 consecutive seasons of competitive football.

References

1969 births Living people New Zealand women's association footballers New Zealand women's international footballers Women's association football midfielders Sportspeople from Waikato {{NewZealand-women-footy-bio-stub