Darren Anderton

Darren Robert Anderton (born 3 March 1972) is an English former professional footballer and pundit.

As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City.

His twelve-year spell with Spurs yielded 299 league appearances, scoring 34 goals.

His first team debut came against Cardiff City in the second round of the League Cup in October 1990 as a substitute for youth team colleague Darryl Powell.

Anderton made his full league debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 0–0 draw, making 20 appearances in the 1990–91 season.

Under new manager Jim Smith, Anderton became a regular in the attacking side of the 1991–92 season, scoring his first club goal in the season opener against Blackburn Rovers.

His performances soon drew the attention of bigger clubs and after an impressive FA Cup run, during which he scored in a semi-final clash with Liverpool, he joined Tottenham Hotspur for £1.75 million in 1992.

After a slow start, Anderton settled at Tottenham, playing as a right winger, forming part of an exciting attacking trio along with Teddy Sheringham and the young Nick Barmby.

Two years later Terry Venables gave Anderton his England debut against Denmark in 1994.

Anderton soon became a regular in the national side and turned down a move to Manchester United in the summer of 1995 following an exciting season spent playing with the likes of Jürgen Klinsmann at Tottenham, a decision that he later regretted.

Despite missing most of the 1995–96 season, first because of hernia surgery and then with a groin injury that kept him out for eight months, Anderton played an important part in the Euro 96 England team that reached the semi-finals and included Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer, Steve McManaman and Teddy Sheringham.

In the semi-final against Germany, the match went to golden goal extra time.

Anderton came within inches of putting England into the final when his shot hit the post.

Injuries then limited Anderton's international appearances considerably.

He was capped 30 times by England, scoring seven goals and being ever present in the squads at UEFA Euro 1996 and 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Since retirement, Anderton has largely worked as a pundit, notably for Canada's The Sports Network.

Anderton started his career in the Southampton Tyro League and played for Itchen Saints during a successful period for the side.

His potential was evident and he was soon scouted and playing youth football at professional clubs.

Anderton was signed as an apprentice by Portsmouth manager Alan Ball, coming to prominence at 18 when he scored at Anfield in an FA Youth Cup match against Liverpool which ended 2–2.

He missed most of the 1997–98 season but was recalled for Glenn Hoddle's squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, starting on the right wing in the first two matches ahead of an out-of-sorts David Beckham.

Hoddle later said in his World Cup Diary that he thought Anderton was equally as good as Beckham at crossing and was a better defender.

Hoddle said he had waited 18 months to play Beckham and Anderton together on the right side of midfield.

It finally happened as David Batty was dropped and the now-focused Beckham was recalled for the third game against Colombia and played inside of Anderton.

Anderton and Beckham were the England heroes as they both scored spectacular goals.

In the second round against Argentina, England went on to lose on penalties.

The following year Anderton won the League Cup with Tottenham, and signed a new reported £24,000-week contract in March.

These were: vs Czech Republic (18 November 1998) by Glenn Hoddle, vs France (10 February 1999) by Howard Wilkinson, vs France (2 September 2000) by Kevin Keegan, vs Italy (15 November 2000) by Peter Taylor and vs Sweden (10 November 2001) by Sven-Göran Eriksson.

Anderton continued to struggle badly with injuries for the rest of that season, missing out on a World Cup place.

That summer the new Leeds United boss Terry Venables tried to recruit Anderton, but he turned down the move out of loyalty to Tottenham.

He won the League Cup with Spurs in 1999, and was then runners-up in the same tournament again in 2002.

He also played in the English Football League for Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers before finishing his career with AFC Bournemouth.

After being sidelined during Euro 2000 with an Achilles tendon injury, an extended run of fitness saw Anderton vying for a permanent place in the national team again.

He played in England's 1–1 draw away to France in September 2000 and also featured against Italy the following November.

In the summer of 2001 Anderton was heavily linked with a move to Liverpool but he remained at Tottenham and his good form for Glenn Hoddle's team during the early part of the 2001–02 season earned his first call-up to Sven-Göran Eriksson's England squad for a friendly against Sweden in November.

Anderton was again selected by Eriksson for England's next game, a friendly against Holland, in February 2002.

He would have started the game but was forced to withdraw through injury.

One notable statistic about Anderton's England career is that his last five caps were given to him by five different managers.

In the summer of 2003 Portsmouth and West Ham made attempts to sign him, but Anderton opted against a move.

He made a bright start to the 2003/04 season, scoring against Tottenham's bitter rivals Arsenal.

In his final ever game as a professional player he came off the bench to score the winner with a spectacular volley in a 3–2 win for Bournemouth on 6 December 2008.