Viv Anderson MBE
Right-Back · Nottingham Forest · England
About Viv Anderson MBE
Nottingham Forest's history-making right-back, Viv Anderson became the first Black player capped by England's men's team in 1978 and helped fire an unfancied provincial club to back-to-back European Cups under Brian Clough.
Viv Anderson MBE's story
Viv Anderson — Club Legend
A one-club man for a decade, Anderson made over 300 appearances at right-back for Nottingham Forest between 1974 and 1984 - the longest and most decorated stint of a 21-year professional career that also took in Arsenal, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Middlesbrough.
Jamaican Roots, a Silkscreen Printer's Apron
Anderson was born in Clifton, Nottingham, to Jamaican parents Audley and Myrtle, who had arrived in England in 1954 and 1955. Manchester United released him as a schoolboy before Forest picked him up. In between, he passed three CSEs and worked briefly as a silkscreen printer, once joking he was 'a glorified tea boy really'.
Clough's Toughest Lesson
When a Carlisle crowd pelted Anderson with fruit in a racist taunt, manager Brian Clough sent him straight back out to 'get me two pears and a banana'. Clough later explained he refused to let racist abuse dictate a young player's career. Anderson endured banana-throwing and racist chanting from rival fans throughout his career, crediting Clough's blunt toughening-up with helping him survive it.
Old Trafford, Twice Over
A £250,000 move to Arsenal in 1984 revived a stalling career; under George Graham he helped mentor a teenage Tony Adams and David Rocastle. In 1987 he signed for Manchester United, becoming Alex Ferguson's first-ever signing as the club's manager, the same club that had released him as a boy.
From Player to Coach
Anderson became Barnsley's player-manager in 1993, his only managerial post, before spending eight years as Bryan Robson's assistant at Middlesbrough, helping the club reach two domestic cup finals in 1996-97 and win an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.
Spider's Web, and a Childhood Hero
Growing up in Clifton, Anderson played for a local junior side called the All Whites and idolised West Ham's Clyde Best, a Bermudian forward and one of English football's first Black stars, on television: 'I thought, I want to be like him.' Forest fans later gave him his own nickname, 'Spider', for the long legs and predatory tackling that made him such an awkward opponent.
Old Teammates, New Chapters
Anderson still speaks regularly with old Forest teammates Tony Woodcock, John Robertson and Garry Birtles, friendships forged during Brian Clough's trophy-laden era. His 2010 autobiography, First Among Unequals, ranges well beyond football, in his own words covering 'marriages, divorces, comedy, tragedy, all sorts of things'.
A Different Era
Looking back on a career played largely before players had a public platform, Anderson has reflected: 'I didn't have a voice, I had to do what the manager said' — a marked contrast with outspoken modern stars like Marcus Rashford.
Did you know?
- ⚽ Made his England debut aged just 22, barely four years after breaking into Nottingham Forest's first team
- 🏆 Forest won both European Cup finals 1-0 - Trevor Francis settling it against Malmo in 1979, John Robertson repeating the trick against Hamburg in 1980
- 👨👩👧👦 Married Debra in 1980; they have three children, including son Freddie Anderson, also a professional footballer
- 🌍 Only the third non-white player ever capped by England's senior men's team, after Paul Reaney's 1968 debut and wartime international Frank Soo
- 🏅 Appointed MBE in January 2000 and inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004
- 🎗️ Patron of the Basil Skyers Melanoma Foundation and Youth Against Racism, and an ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK and Kick It Out
- 🥈 Captained Sheffield Wednesday to two major cup finals in 1993, losing both to Arsenal
- 🩹 Missed the 1979 League Cup final through injury, but still collected a European Cup winner's medal five months later
- 🎽 In October 2024, auctioned off more than 100 shirts and his winners' medals, including the one worn on his 1978 England debut
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