Elliot Anderson was the schoolboy footballer so good his teachers discussed placing a bet on him playing for England. The bet was never made – but Thomas Tuchel is backing him to be a winner at the World Cup.
Anderson’s journey from the playing fields of Tyneside to the World Cup stage, and to potentially becoming the most expensive player in British football history, continues when England play Ghana in Boston on Tuesday.
The midfielder is the one that painfully got away from Newcastle United but is still revered and respected in his home city as the “quiet and self-effacing” local boy made good.
Anderson’s first steps in football came playing with his two elder brothers Louie and Wil, the latter gaining prominence as a contestant on reality TV show Love Island.
Jonathan Roys, Anderson’s former English and PE teacher at Valley Gardens, who was also his head of year, told BBC Sport: “His brothers had been through the school and I played against his dad. His brothers were decent, but I think being the youngest of three he was used to getting bossed about a little bit, but he took no quarter off anybody. He’d get stuck right in.”
Anderson put down a marker for future success when he was captain and scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 win when Valley Gardens won the English leg of Danone Nations Cup in 2014, a prestigious worldwide youth tournament.
His parents, Iain and Helen, ensured studying was never sidelined, with lessons organised around time at Newcastle United’s academy, his beloved club he was always destined to join.
“Elliot was quiet, self-effacing lad at school,” says Roys. “He came from a great family. They made sure we organised his lessons around time he spent at Newcastle’s academy.
“As head of year you can sometimes deal with kids who might be causing problems but he was never any trouble. He just got on with it. Reports were usually glowing, both from school and Newcastle’s academy.”
Read more about Anderson’s journey here