Russell Anderson

Football player infobox
playername = Russell Anderson


fullname = Russell Anderson
height = height|m=1.86
nickname = Rusty
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|10|25
cityofbirth = Aberdeen
countryofbirth = Scotland
currentclub = Burnley
"on loan from Sunderland"
clubnumber = 24
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1996–2007
2007–
2008
2008–2009
clubs = Aberdeen
Sunderland
→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)
→ Burnley (loan)
caps(goals) = 280 (18)
001 0(0)
014 0(0)
004 0(0)
nationalyears = 2002–
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 011 0(0)
pcupdate = 19:44, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 15:21, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Russell Anderson (born October 25 1978 in Aberdeen) is a Scottish football defender who currently plays for Burnley in the Coca-Cola Championship.

Club career

Aberdeen

Anderson grew up as Russell Cadger in the Mannofield area of Aberdeen and attended Aberdeen Grammar School. He was part of the school team who became the only Aberdeen school side ever to win the Scottish Cup. He began his career with local club Aberdeen, and broke through the ranks to make his debut in the first team in 1997; scoring his first goal for the club in 2000, in the 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 the season 2005-06, he won the most man-of-the-match awards from BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound in the league.

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. Everton won the game 3-2cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/5258556.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Aberdeen 2-3 Everton|date=9 August 2006] .

Anderson was club captain before departing the club for Sunderland in June 2007.

underland

On June 27 2007 Anderson completed a £1 million transfer to Premiership club Sunderlandcite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/6244320.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Anderson seals Sunderland switch|date=27 June 2007] , despite having stated one month earlier his desire to remain at Aberdeen for the rest of his careercite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/6681279.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Anderson aims for Pittodrie stay|date=22 May 2007] . It is also notable that the £90,000 Russell received as a signing on fee was given to the AFC youth team for investment.

Anderson made his home début for Sunderland in a friendly match versus Italian side Juventus on Saturday August 4 2007. He came on as a substitute at The Stadium of Light with fifteen minutes of the match remaining. The game finished in a 1-1 draw, with Daryl Murphy giving the Black Cats the lead. On August 18 2007, he made his Premier League debut against Wigan Athletic as a substitute where he later gave away a penalty for a mis-timed tackle.

On February 19 2008, Anderson joined Plymouth Argyle on loan until the end of the 2007/08 season. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/plymouth_argyle/7252569.stm|title=Argyle sign Scotland pair on loan|accessmonthday=February 18|accessyear=2008]

On August 26 2008, Anderson joined Burnley Football Club in a loan deal which will see him play for the club until the end of the 2008/09 season. [http://www.burnleyfootballclub.premiumtv.co.uk/page/LatestHeadlines/0,,10413~1375562,00.html Clarets complete Anderson signing [

International career

Anderson has played for the Scottish national side on nine 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 substitutecite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/scotland/2316207.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=Scotland sink Iceland|date=12 October 2002] . His good form and reliability for both club and country over the last few of seasons led for calls for him to become a regular in the Scotland squad.

Awards

In November 2006, he won the Scottish Player of the Month award for the first time in his careercite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/6159439.stm|publisher=BBC Sport website|title=November prize for Dons' Anderson|date=30 November 2006] .April 2007 saw him nominated for Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year for the 2006/07 season. He was not only the sole Scottish candidate for the award, but was also the only nominee not playing for Celtic Football Club, the SPL champions. He was also named in the Scottish PFA team of the year for the 2006-07 season. ["http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/6584145.stm"]

He collected the Best Defender Award 05/06 after a run of consistent performances led him to the Stage.

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=11068|name=Russell Anderson