Elliot Anderson (footballer)

Elliot Junior Anderson (born 6 November 2002) is a professional footballer who plays for club Nottingham Forest as a midfielder. Born in England, he has recently represented Scotland internationally at youth level.

Early life
Anderson hails from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. His maternal grandfather, Geoff Allen, played as an outside-left for Newcastle United from 1964 to 1968.

Newcastle United
Anderson first joined Newcastle United at the age of eight having previously been at Wallsend Boys Club and signed his first professional contract with the club in November 2019, signing another long-term deal a year later on his eighteenth birthday. On 9 January 2021, Anderson made his first-team debut in a 2–0 defeat to Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup. On 18 January, Anderson made his Premier League debut against the same opposition in a 3–0 defeat, as an 87th-minute substitute.

Bristol Rovers (loan)
On 31 January 2022, Anderson joined League Two side Bristol Rovers on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season. He made his debut on 5 February, impressing off of the bench in a 1–1 draw at Sutton United. Anderson opened his account for the club, scoring the first league goal of his career, with the second in a 4–0 away win at Stevenage before assisting namesake Harry Anderson for the third four minutes later in a performance that was rated 9/10 by local media outlet Bristol Live. Following a 1–0 victory over Colchester United in which Anderson scored the only goal of the game, his third goal for the club and scoring for a second consecutive match, manager and former Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton compared Anderson's style of play to that of Diego Maradona. Anderson was awarded the League Two Goal of the Month award for March 2022 for his impressive solo run and finish against Harrogate Town, receiving 50% of the public vote. On 7 May 2022, Anderson was awarded the EFL Young Player of the Month Award for April 2022 after three goals and two assists in six matches left Rovers close to an automatic promotion spot, later winning the EFL League Two Player of the Month Award too. That same day, the final league match of the season, Anderson scored Rovers' final goal in the 85th minute of a 7–0 thrashing of Scunthorpe United, this goal moving Rovers above Northampton Town on a goals scored basis into the final automatic promotion spot, the club returning to League One at the first time of asking.

Return to Newcastle and breakthrough
On 21 September 2022, Anderson's breakthrough into the first-team was rewarded with a new long-term contract. On 26 February 2023, he came off the bench in the 91st minute of the 2023 EFL Cup final defeat to Manchester United. He was controversially denied a first Newcastle goal on 17 March 2023 at Nottingham Forest when his back-post header was ruled out by VAR. A decision described as "bizarre", while former referee Dermot Gallagher clarified with evidence that no offside law had been broken.

Anderson's development continued throughout the season, resulting in an increased presence in pre-season for the 2023-24 campaign, where he garnered much praise. In the season, Anderson's development continued with an increased first team presence, starting 4 matches, and having substitute appearances in the other 5 Premier League matches, before he was sidelined for 4 months with a lower back injury. Anderson returned to the team on 27 February 2024, scoring in the Penalty shootout against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup.

Nottingham Forest
On 1 July 2024, Anderson joined Premier League side Nottingham Forest for a reported fee of £35million, signing a five-year contract with the club. A later article in The Daily Telegraph newspaper had the transfer fee as "around £15 million".

International career
Born in England, Anderson is of Scottish descent with a grandmother on his father's side born in Glasgow and later residing in Whitley Bay. He was a youth international for Scotland at U16, U17 & U18 level. He switched his allegiance to England in March 2021, making his debut in a non-international friendly against Arsenal U23s on 27 March 2021. Anderson was selected in the Scotland under-21 squad in November 2021. Anderson received a second call-up for the Scotland U21 squad in March 2022, instead opting to remain with his loan club Bristol Rovers. Anderson made his Scotland under-21 debut on 5 June as they held group leaders Belgium to a 0–0 draw. He withdrew from a later Scotland under-21 squad, as he wanted to keep other representative options open.

In August 2023, Anderson received his first call-up to the Scotland national team by head coach Steve Clarke, for a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against Cyprus and a friendly against England, but pulled out due to injury. Anderson did make one appearance for England U19 although this was not an official match so as of July 2024 Anderson's only caps at any level have been for Scotland.

Honours
Bristol Rovers
 * EFL League Two third-place promotion: 2021–22

Newcastle United
 * EFL Cup runner-up: 2022–23

Individual
 * EFL League Two Goal of the Month: March 2022
 * EFL Young Player of the Month: April 2022
 * EFL League Two Player of the Month: April 2022