Nothing Compares, Nothing Compares Ando

John Callan’s heartfelt goodbye to Aberdeen captain and all-round club hero Russell Anderson.

At around half past ten last Thursday night, as many thousands were settling down on the sofa to watch a procession of Conservative MPs shuffle back into the House of Commons, Aberdeen announced Russell Anderson is to retire at the end of the season. In amongst the nauseating social media barrage of election night, it initially seemed a bit of a shame to  quietly bury news so significant – albeit to a far smaller group of people. But on reflection, perhaps understatement was more appropriate.

Though Anderson is almost universally accepted by Aberdeen fans as the only current, or even nearly-current player befitting of all-time great status, he’s always gone about it in an understated way. There have been plenty of robust, local-boy centre-halves in Scotland and beyond who spend an inordinate amount of time playing to the galleries and thumping the chest but he’s never really been one for that, which isn’t to detract from his influence.

At his peak, probably during the 2006/07 season, Anderson was imperious. He was strong, composed and good with his feet, a stand-out player in a decent Aberdeen side. His SPFA Player of the Year nomination was the sole non-Celtic representative in a season dominated by the Hoops. It was also, pleasingly, the culmination of a number of years’ worth of steady, impressive progress. What particularly set him apart from many contemporaries was his pace; there were very few SPL strikers he couldn’t keep up with. The following season, after his £1 million summer departure to Sunderland, Aberdeen conceded 21 more league goals. A huge proportion of that was down to Ando.

The absence of Dons in the Scotland side has become a bit of a tired complaint among Aberdeen fans, but in Russell’s case it is merited. That he’s ended up with just eleven national caps while the likes of Lee Wilkie, Stephen McManus, Steven Pressley and a pair of Caldwells collected no fewer is pretty galling. There will always be a feeling, despite eventually being hampered by injury problems, that he was too often overlooked.

That isn’t to say he’s been without critics. When he first broke into the side as a teenager he spent time at right-back, where some shaky displays resulted in flack from the stands. A number argued he wasn’t vocal enough to be club captain. Some found fault with his move down south, while more took his apparent failure there as a sign he simply wasn’t good enough for that level. Perhaps he wasn’t, but there’s no doubt circumstance conspired against him too. After rupturing his ankle ligaments on his first start for Sunderland, a range of injuries meant he never amassed more than 15 league matches in any one of his four-and-a-half seasons in England.

There were legitimate worries, after such a torrid time, that his return to Pittodrie aged 33 would be ceremonial and short-lived. It was neither. After slowly regaining fitness, he became a redeeming feature of Craig Brown’s last season, then an integral part of Derek McInnes’ first. Here, his leadership qualities were more apparent than ever, guiding defensive colleagues through matches superbly while being far from shabby himself. 

Distilling Anderson’s career down into a few moments is tricky, and a little reductive. He’s the kind of player who’s influence dawns upon you after weeks or months of solidity, rather than just seconds. His goal in the 3-2 win over Rangers in 2005 was noteworthy, given that he took a boot to the face whilst diving to head home. He went on to give a selflessly brave performance in the victory. 

His exquisite sliding tackle on Thomas Gravesen, not known for being a shrinking violet himself, is also fondly remembered by Dons fans, sending the Dane flying while simultaneously thwarting a Celtic counter-attack and cleanly collecting the ball for himself. After that match, at the start of the campaign which saw the Dons finish third, manager Jimmy Calderwood said: “Russell Anderson’s standards are unbelievable. He has taken his game to another level.” His ability was certainly always matched by his effort.

But the defining Anderson moment, thankfully, is the one where he’s deliriously holding a trophy aloft, like every boyhood Dandy dreams, after yet another brilliant defensive display.   The League Cup triumph last year, for him more than anyone else in red that day, was well overdue. It could only have been more fitting if his first half volley off the post had gone in. 

Russell Anderson started the first Aberdeen match I ever attended – a 1997 2-1 pre-season friendly loss against Blackburn, since you ask. He’s the only one of that eleven still playing today and he’s the only player to appear for the club in the intervening 18 years who can claim to have become a true Aberdeen great. The fact he’s gone about it in such a modest, humble, arguably typically Aberdonian way is even more endearing. In what has undoubtedly been the darkest 20 year stretch in Aberdeen’s history – one from which they mercifully appear to be emerging – he’s been the one magnificent figure that supporters could consistently be proud of. 

WRITTEN BY JOHN CALLAN

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