Viv ANDERSON

While his name will live forever in England folklore for reasons beyond football, classy right back Viv Anderson's career for his country represented one of underachievement. Although much was made of the significance of his momentous debut in November 1978 against Czechoslovakia, which made him England's first black international, his was not a political selection but simply a merited one. His club, Nottingham Forest, were League champions and Anderson's awesome presence as an athletic, attacking full back with a sharp defensive bite when required was one of many fabulous individual aspects of Brian Clough's team. Greenwood called him up, the columnists and cultural commentators made their noises and Anderson pushed aside the extended attention to play competently in a 1-0 win. But the right back slot belonged to Phil Neal of Liverpool, with Ipswich Town's experienced Mick Mills a major candidate for the role as, uniquely, he was just as skilled in either full back position and was therefore too valuable to ignore. Anderson won the European Cup with Forest later that season but had not yet played a second time for England. Though nobody went as far as suggesting there was tokenism about his debut, Viv's absence from the team as he became a continental champion at club level was nevertheless eyebrow-raising, but the cynics and conspiracy theorists conveniently overlooked the consistency of Neal who was a deserving first choice incumbent.

Anderson finally won a second cap in June 1979 in a goalless friendly against Sweden, and then made his competitive debut in his third appearance as England beat Bulgaria 2-0 at Wembley in a qualifier for the 1980 European Championships. Although Forest retained the European Cup in 1980, Anderson's sparkling club form still didn't move Greenwood's selection goalposts, and Neal was in the driving seat as England sealed their place in a major finals for the first time in a decade. Indeed, it didn't look clever for Viv because Leeds United's Trevor Cherry was also receiving regular call-ups and getting games as Greenwood shaped up a squad to take to Italy. However, Greenwood avoided a selection headache by choosing all three - plus Mills - in his squad, although it was Neal who got the No.2 shirt and the right back role for the opening matches. Anderson played in the final group match (the photo above is just prior to the game) which England needed to win and then rely on other results to progress, but could only complete the first half of the equation, beating Spain 2-1. It was Anderson's first of what many assumed would be many appearances in major final tournaments, an assumption which would ultimately be engulfed in irony. (Matthew Rudd)

Ron Greenwood picked Anderson for the opening qualifier for the 1982 World Cup as England thumped Norway 4-0 at Wembley but then Neal returned for the next three matches, including two qualifiers. With Mills largely being used as a Red Adair figure for either full back position, Anderson and Neal were now the basic competition for the right back slot and Viv's sixth cap came in a goalless qualifier against Romania in April 1981, but his only subsequent games that year were the Home International matches against Wales (drew 0-0) and Scotland (lost 1-0). He missed all four of the remaining qualifiers, though England's success in reaching the finals at least gave him hope of making a World Cup squad. Of six warm-up games, Greenwood picked Anderson for just two and there were still only ten caps next to his name when the squad was announced and Viv's name was included. He seemed again to be competing with Neal but ultimately neither were first choice, as Greenwood needed a captain in the injured Kevin Keegan's absence and therefore made room at right back for Mills.

England exited in the second group phase and Anderson didn't kick a ball. Bobby Robson's appointment to the England job coincided with a long period out of favour for Viv, who was by now playing for a Forest team which was on the wane. As such, he was overlooked through the whole of 1983, with Neal holding a monopoly and Robson checking out untried debutants when the game was deemed less important. Robson ditched Neal for good after England's capitulation against Denmark at Wembley which took away their hopes of qualifying for the 1984 European Championships, but even then Anderson had to wait as Manchester United's impressive Mike Duxbury took a brief hold on the position, though Viv finally got his recall and an eleventh cap in April 1984 for a Home International win over Northern Ireland. Duxbury played eight consecutive times afterwards but then lost his place at Manchester United just as Anderson was relaunching his career with a galvanising move to Arsenal. Robson noticed the newly invigorated Viv and finally he became England's first choice right back, starting eight of the next ten matches. These included a World Cup qualifier against Turkey in November 1984 which produced Anderson's first England goal in an 8-0 win, and further undefeated qualifiers against Northern Ireland, Romania (see photo above) and Finland. (Matthew Rudd)

Bobby Robson picked Viv for the 1985 summer tour of Mexico but also included the nippy and youthful Everton full back Gary Stevens in his party and such was the previously uncapped Stevens' impact in two of the three touring games (including a 3-0 win over West Germany) that Anderson was suddenly second choice again. He sat out the remaining three qualifiers which guaranteed England's passage back to Mexico for the World Cup and featured in just two of England's six preparatory fixtures of 1986 prior to flying out. Stevens played every minute of England's World Cup campaign, which ended with a quarter final defeat to Argentina, and for the second tournament in a row Viv went to a World Cup and never kicked a ball. One glimmer of hope for Anderson was that Stevens had a lot of critics who questioned his positional and ball playing abilities, and it was clear that Viv still had his admirers in media and supporter circles. Robson picked him for the first six games after the World Cup, including victories in European Championship qualifiers against Northern Ireland (twice) and Yugoslavia (against whom Anderson scored his second international goal).

Again a cat-and-mouse saga ensued when Stevens returned to the team for the summer Rous Cup mini-tournament, with both players knowing that whoever was selected for the crucial final qualifiers at the end of 1987 would be regarded as first choice. Stevens got the nod as England thumped Turkey 8-0 and Yugoslavia 4-1 and Anderson, yet again, was only a back-up with his 29th and 30th England appearances coming in April and May of 1988 in pre-tournament friendlies against Hungary (see photo above) and Colombia, both of which ended in draws. Almost inevitably, he was selected for the European Championship squad which went to Germany, but for the second competition in a row he watched Stevens play every minute and never got on to a pitch as England crashed out with three straight defeats. By now he was a player at Manchester United who were vastly underachieving, and as Anderson was now 32, Robson decided to look elsewhere for Stevens' next challenger. Viv's ultimate problem was that while he was an outstanding right back, he was merely one of several around simultaneously, and only one could play at a time. That's unlucky, but even unluckier is being an outfield player who is selected for four major tournaments and doesn't get a minute's action at three of them. Fortunately, it's not such a dubious statistic for which Anderson's name will ultimately be remembered, but something far more groundbreaking. (Matthew Rudd)