Russell Anderson

Aberdeen

Anderson was born and raised in Aberdeen and attended Aberdeen Grammar School. He began his career with local club Aberdeen, progressing through the ranks to make his first team debut in 1997; he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win against Hibernian in 2000. Described as a solid, reliable centre-back (although he played some of his early matches at right-back), Anderson established himself as a first choice player and went on to make more than 300 appearances in his first spell with the club. In 2003, he was appointed club captain, a role he held for four years before moving to Sunderland in 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…

Anderson played for the Scotland 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. Anderson went on to win 11 full caps in total, making his last international appearance in March 2008.

His son Jevan is also a footballer.

Anderson won the SPL player of the month award in November 2006. He was nominated for Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year for the 2006/07 season, and was the only nominee playing for a club other than league champions Celtic. Anderson was also named in the Scottish PFA team of the year for the 2006–07 season.