28 Facts About Viv Anderson

Viv Anderson was later part of the squads to win a domestic cup with each of Arsenal and Manchester United.

Viv Anderson was the first black and second non-white footballer after Paul Reaney to play for the senior men's England national football team.

Viv Anderson spent a year as a schoolboy with Manchester United before being released.

Viv Anderson returned to Nottingham where at school he sat and passed three CSEs.

Viv Anderson was part of the side that won promotion to the First Division in 1977, winning the title, along with the League Cup, a year later.

Viv Anderson was one of the first black players to represent top English clubs at the time, and regularly suffered racial abuse from fans of rival teams.

Viv Anderson was regularly pelted with bananas and targeted with racist chants.

Viv Anderson made his debut for England in November 1978, for a friendly against Czechoslovakia.

Viv Anderson became the second non-white footballer to represent the men's senior England team after Paul Reaney who had first appeared for England in 1968.

Vindication for his selection on merit was further supplied when Viv Anderson was part of the Forest team that retained the League Cup and then clinched the European Cup in 1979 with victory over Malmo.

Viv Anderson continued to impress for Forest during this period, and picked up his second European Cup winners' medal when they retained the trophy with victory over Hamburger SV in Madrid.

England had duly got through to the European Championship finals in Italy and Viv Anderson was named in Greenwood's squad, playing in the final group game against Spain as a replacement for Phil Neal.

Viv Anderson finally won an 11th cap, in April 1984, almost two years after his tenth.

Viv Anderson won three caps at the end of 1986 as England began their quest to qualify for the 1988 European Championships in Germany.

In one of the qualifiers against Yugoslavia, Viv Anderson scored his second and final international goal.

Viv Anderson scored a vital goal against Arsenals rivals Tottenham in the second leg of the semi-final.

Viv Anderson scored 15 goals in his three seasons at Highbury, a spell that saw him make 150 appearances for the club.

The 30-year-old Viv Anderson was rewarded with a three-year contract offer from Arsenal at the end of the 1987 season.

Arsenal expected Viv Anderson to agree to the new deal but he instead signed with Manchester United, the same club who had released him as a teenager.

Meanwhile, Stevens had forced his way back in as England qualified for the European Championships and Viv Anderson won his 30th and final cap in a Rous Cup game against Colombia though was again in reserve when the squad went to Germany for the finals.

At Old Trafford Viv Anderson was a significant part of Alex Ferguson's rebuilding plans as he attempted to create a title winning side to end the wait that had started at the club in 1967.

Viv Anderson joined Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer in January 1991, helping them to promotion from the Second Division, although he missed the League Cup final triumph over Manchester United as he had played for his old club earlier in the competition.

Viv Anderson helped Wednesday reach the FA Cup and League Cup final in 1993, but they were on the losing side to Arsenal in both finals.

Robson and Viv Anderson finally left Middlesbrough in June 2001 when Terry Venables was brought in with the club facing relegation.

Viv Anderson has not been employed in football since leaving the assistant manager's job at Middlesbrough.

Viv Anderson was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his impact on the English league.

Viv Anderson remains a keen supporter of the National Football Museum and regularly attends special events at the museum.

Viv Anderson appears as an occasional guest pundit on MUTV; Manchester United's official TV station.