John William Anderson was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer.

Most likely born in County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, Anderson started out at non-league Crook Town

Crook Town F.C.

Crook Town Association Football Club is an English football club based in Crook, County Durham. The club are currently members of Division Two of the Northern League and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times during its history.-History:Crook Town Football...

 before turning professional and joining Woolwich Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in December 1896. He soon made his debut, in a Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 match away to Darwen

Darwen F.C.

A.F.C. Darwen is a football club from Darwen in Lancashire, North West England. The team, formed in 1870 as Darwen F.C., currently play in the Division One of the North West Counties League. They play their home games at the Anchor Ground.-History:...

 on January 1, 1897, which Arsenal lost 4-1. He was a mainstay for the rest of the 1896-97

1896-97 in English football

The 1896–97 season was the 26th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Aston Villa became the second team to complete "the Double" of winning the Football League Championship and the FA Cup. No other team would complete the double for 64 years.The Cup Final was played on 10 April...

 season, playing all three half back (midfield

Midfield

Midfield is the part of a sports pitch that lies approximately in the center. It is a term most commonly associated with football to refer to the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region, but it can be used in field hockey to describe the same area, or in...

) positions; his continued versatility meant he remained a regular in the Arsenal side for the next five years.

Anderson's best season for Woolwich Arsenal was 1900-01

1900-01 in English football

The 1900–01 season was the 30th season of competitive football in England.-Events:Stockport County played their first season in the football league. Blackpool also returned to the league, at the expenses of Loughborough and Luton Town.-Honours:...

, where he only missed two league fixtures all season, though he was still being used as a utility man across midfield, without making any single position his own. He continued to be a regular for another season but after the arrival of Roddy McEachrane

Roddy McEachrane

Roderick John "Roddy" McEachrane was a Scottish footballer, born in Inverness.McEachrane moved to Canning Town, London at the age of 20, to work at the Thames Iron Works, and joined the works football team, Thames Ironworks FC. He soon settled in the side as a left half-back with a reputation for...

 in 1902, he was squeezed out of the Woolwich Arsenal side; he only played eight games in 1902-03

1902-03 in English football

The 1902–03 season was the 32nd season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition-First Division:-Second Division:...

 and left the club at the end of that season. In total he played 153 games for Arsenal, scoring eleven goals. He later joined Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

; he is not to be confused, however, with the John Anderson

John Anderson (footballer born 1915)

John "Jock" Anderson is a former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. The summit of his career was scoring one of the goals for Portsmouth in their 4-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1939 FA Cup Final....

who played for Portsmouth in the 1930s.