Russell Anderson

For other people named Russell Anderson, see Russell Anderson (disambiguation).

Russell Anderson

Personal information
Full name	Russell James Anderson
Date of birth	(1978-10-25) 25 October 1978
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	Derby County
Number	12
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–2007	Aberdeen	280	(18)
2007–2010	Sunderland	1	(0)
2008	→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)	14	(0)
2008–2009	→ Burnley (loan)	4	(0)
2010–	Derby County	34	(1)
International career‡
2002–	Scotland	11	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:08, 2 November 2011 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:47, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Russell James Anderson (born 25 October 1978 in Aberdeen, Scotland) is a Scottish footballer who plays for Championship side Derby County as a cente back. He spent the majority of his career playing for Aberdeen in his native Scotland, whom he represented at international level, before moving to England and playing for Sunderland, Plymouth Argyle and Burnley.

Club career

Aberdeen

Anderson grew up in the Mannofield area of Aberdeen and attended Aberdeen Grammar School. He began his career with local club Aberdeen, and broke through the ranks to make his début in the first team in 1997; scoring his first goal for the club in 2000, in a 4–0 win over Hibernian. He went on to establish himself as a rock at the heart of the defence. A solid, reliable centre-back, he became a real fans' favourite and amassed over three hundred appearances for Aberdeen.

In 2003, he was appointed club captain, a role he held for four years before departing the club for Sunderland in June 2007.

In the 2005–06 season, he won the most league man-of-the-match awards from BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound.

In 2006, Anderson celebrated ten years at the club with a testimonial match against Everton, a match where the Aberdeen fans showed their respect for his considerable ability and loyalty, with 12,000 fans attending the match. Despite Aberdeen leading 2–1, Everton won 3–2.

Sunderland

Despite having stated his desire to remain at Aberdeen for the rest of his career, on 27 June 2007, Anderson completed a £1 million transfer to Premiership club Sunderland, signing a three-year deal.

Anderson made his first appearance for Sunderland in a friendly match against Italian side Juventus on 4 August 2007. He came on as a substitute at the Stadium of Light with fifteen minutes of the match remaining. On 18 August 2007, he made his Premier League début as a substitute against Wigan Athletic, where he gave away a penalty for a mis-timed tackle in a 3–0 defeat. This would prove to be his only Premier League appearance for Sunderland, as his next two years at the club would be blighted by injury. His second and last appearance for the club came against Luton in the FA Cup on 28 August 2007. Anderson, making his full début, ruptured his ankle ligaments. After having reconstructive surgery, Anderson was ruled out for three months.

On 19 February 2008, Anderson joined Plymouth Argyle on a one month loan, which was later extended until the end of the 2007–08 season. He made his début for Plymouth away to Southampton on 19 February 2008, with Plymouth winning 2–0. Anderson went on to play in all 14 of Plymouth's final league games of the season during his spell at the club.

On 26 August 2008, Anderson joined Burnley on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season. He made his Burnley début on 30 August 2008 in a 0–0 draw against his former club Plymouth. Anderson played four consecutive league games for Burnley, but in his fifth game for the club, a League Cup tie against Fulham on 23 September 2008, he suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season.

After spending 14 months out injured, Anderson finally made his comeback in a reserve game against Wigan Athletic on 1 December 2009. Anderson's contract was due to expire at the end of the 2009–10 season, and it was reported on 30 December 2009 that Sunderland were considering paying off the remainder of his contract, which would allow Anderson to sign on a free transfer for another club in the January transfer window. On 31 December, Anderson was reported to be in talks with Hibernian and an "unnamed Championship club", later revealed to be Derby County. Reports of Anderson leaving were confirmed on 14 January 2010, as Sunderland released Anderson from his contract.

Derby County

On 15 January 2010, Derby County announced that they had signed Anderson on a contract until the end of the 2009–10 season. He made his début as a second half substitute in a 3–0 win at Peterborough United the following day and appeared sporadically as a late substitute for the club over the next 8 weeks, behind the club's first choice pairing of Jake Buxton and Shaun Barker. He finally made his first start for the club in a 2–2 draw with Middlesbrough on 16 March, in place of Buxton, and kept it for the rest of the season as Derby successfully fought off relegation. Anderson scored his first goal for Derby County, and his first in three years, on 17 April 2010 with the opener in a 1–1 draw against Crystal Palace which ensured Derby were mathematically safe from relegation. Anderson impressed enough for Derby manager Nigel Clough to confirm his intention to offer Anderson a 2-year deal at the end of the 2009/10 season, seeing Anderson as one of four centre halves for the club's 2010/11 season alongside Barker, Buxton and Dean Leacock. The deal was signed on 21 April 2010

Anderson started the 2010–11 season alongside Dean Leacock in the centre of the Derby defence as they earned a 2–1 win at Leeds United before an injury sustained in training ruled him out for the next two months. He returned to action with a 60 minute appearance in the reserves 3–1 defeat at Rotherham United. He returned to first team action as an 89th minute substitute the following Saturday against Preston North End, winning a 93rd minute penalty which Robbie Savage converted in a 3–0 Derby victory. He suffered a hamstring injury soon after which ruled him out for another three months before picking up a calf injury in his rehabilitation to rule him out until mid-February 2011. He returned to the side on 2 April with a substitute appearance in a 4-1 defeat at Cardiff City and featured in the remaining six games of the campaign with a further 3 starts and 3 substitute appearances. Following the end of the 2010/11 season, it was reported that Aberdeen had a move for Anderson accepted but the player rejected the chance of a move, preferring to remain at Pride Park. Anderson started the season in Derby's first team but was injured 35 minutes into the first game and missed the first month of the season. Upon returning to the side for a 3-0 win over Millwall at the end of September, Anderson played a role in 7 of Derby's next 8 games, often employed at right-back in the absence of first choice John Brayford. However, a hamstring injury sustained in a 3-0 home defeat to Cardiff City saw him ruled out of action for two months.

International career

Anderson so far has played for the Scottish national side on eleven occasions and was both a youth and under-21 international. He won his first cap against Iceland in October 2002, coming on as a late substitute.

Awards

In November 2006, he won the Scottish Player of the Month award for the first time in his career. April 2007 saw him nominated for Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year for the 2006/07 season. He was the only Scottish candidate for the award, and the only nominee playing for a club other than Celtic, the SPL champions. Anderson was also named in the Scottish PFA team of the year for the 2006–07 season.

External links

• Russell Anderson at Soccerbase
• Derby County profile