Viv Anderson

Former English football player Viv Anderson played for teams such as Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday during the course of his career. He was also the first ever black player to represent England in a full professional game, which he did in 1978. He is now a football coach.

Anderson’s career began with Manchester United, where he spent a year in the football academy before returning to his native Nottingham to take his GCSE’s. He became an apprentice silk screen printer, but broke into the Nottingham Forest team in 1974. With him in the squad, the club got promoted to Division One, with Anderson becoming known as a fast player and a great tackler. They retained the League Cup, and won the European Cup in 1979. Despite experiencing serious racism and discrimination from fans of rival clubs, Anderson was called up for England in 1978, with his debut World Cup appearance in 1982. The player then moved to Arsenal, and quickly won six consecutive caps between 1984 and 1985. In 1987 he made the move to Manchester United, where he played under the management of Alex Ferguson for 4 years before joining Sheffield Wednesday in 1991. He captained the Sheffield Wednesday team many times during his short time at the club, and when he left became coach for Barnsley and then Middlesborough.

Since leaving the game in 2001, Anderson has set up a sports travel agency, and is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Football Association. He has also been a pundit on Manchester United’s Official TV channel, MUTV, and in 2000 was awarded an MBE.