ANDERSON, VIV (born Vivian Alexander Anderson, 29 July 1956), a former English professional footballer and coach. Viv Anderson was born in Nottingham to Audley and Myrtle, who were both from Jamaica. He was the first Black footballer and second non-White footballer to play for England’s national football team. At age twenty-two, he became one of the team’s starting eleven players. Anderson went with England to the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals. He has won five senior trophies, including the 1977–78 Football League title and both the 1978–79 and 1979–80 European Cup playing for Nottingham Forest as a defender.
At the time, Anderson was among the first Black players to represent England’s top soccer clubs and regularly experienced racial discrimination and abuse from rival teams and audiences, as well as fans. He later played for Arsenal and Manchester United, winning a domestic cup with each of the football squads. He also played for Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, and Middlesborough. Anderson later became an assistant manager at Middlesbrough. His 2010 autobiography, First Among Unequals, recalls the racism of the mid-70s and traces Anderson’s historical contribution to the diversity of the sport visà-vis him overcoming entrenched racial barriers. In 2000 he was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for his service to football; in 2004, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.