John Anderson (28 November 1931 – 28 July 2024) was a Scottish television personality and sports coach. He was best known as the referee and official trainer on the UK television show ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

'' which featured his catchphrases including 'Contender, ready! Gladiator, ready!' Anderson previously worked as a teacher and coach for

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

and

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

athletes.

Life and career

John Anderson was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, on 28 November 1931. Anderson had a successful career long before his athletics and TV fame. Plaudits included representing Scotland as a schoolboy footballer, becoming the first home Scot to gain the prestigious Full FA Coaching Certificate (then only four were awarded per year), being one of only two confirmed recipients (along with

Wilf Paish Wilfred Henry Charles Paish MBE (29 July 1932 – 29 January 2010) was a British athletics coach. He helped train athletes such as Olympic champion Tessa Sanderson, Mick Hill and Peter Elliott. Paish was chief coach for South Africa at the ...

) of every British Senior Coaching award available, and founding Maryhill Ladies AC in Glasgow. Anderson coached Commonwealth Games champion and former World Record Holder

David Moorcroft David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as ...

from 1966. It was a coach-athlete relationship which would lead to a world record for 5000m in 1982 and even a vets world record for the mile of 4:02 a decade later, in 1993. Anderson also coached three-time Olympic heptathlete

Judy Simpson Judith Earline Veronica Simpson (née Livermore; born 14 November 1960) is a British former heptathlete who competed at two Olympic Games. She went on to appear as Nightshade in the TV show '' Gladiators'' between 1993 and 1996. Early life She ...

(known as Nightshade on Gladiators); double Olympian

Sheila Carey Sheila Janet Carey MBE, (née Taylor; born 12 August 1946) is a British retired middle-distance runner who represented the United Kingdom at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics. In 1968, she placed fourth in the 800 metres, while in 1972, she fi ...

; marathoner John Graham; 1988 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist

Liz McColgan Elizabeth Nuttall (née Lynch, formerly McColgan; born 24 May 1964) is a Scottish former middle- and long-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships and a silver over the same distance at the ...

; middle-distance runner

Lynne MacDougall Lynne MacDougall (born 18 February 1965) is a Scottish middle-distance and long-distance runner. She represented Great Britain at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, finishing 11th in the 1500 metres final. Representing Scotland and competing as Lyn ...

; 1972 Olympic 4×400m silver medallist David Jenkins, and sprint hurdler David Wilson. Anderson was National Coach for the Amateur Athletics Association of England and subsequently the first full-time National Coach in Scotland (1965–1970). He was coach to an Olympian at every Olympics from 1964 to 2000 and has coached five world record holders and an estimated 170 Great Britain internationals in every track and field event. Anderson was the head official on the sports game show ''

'' from 1992 to 2000. Before every event he called: "Contender ready! Gladiator ready!" followed by "Three! Two! One!" before starting the game by blowing his whistle. In 2008, Anderson briefly reprised his role as referee on the newly revived ''

'' before leaving due to his retirement from TV refereeing, and being replaced by John Coyle after just one series. The series was subsequently not renewed any further. Following ''Gladiators'', Anderson occasionally appeared in cameo roles as a referee, including guest appearances on two episodes of 2016's ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

'' with Chris Evans and

Matt LeBlanc Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, '' Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc ...

, and as an ident-voiceover for Sky's Challenge TV. After his television career in the 1990s, Anderson went on to become a mentor and coach for a number of international athletes, including Great British athlete

William Sharman William "Will" Sharman (born 12 September 1984) is a British athlete who specialises in the 110 metres hurdles. He started his career as a junior high jumper and decathlete, but focused entirely on hurdling after a shoulder injury. He made his ...

, whom he helped transform from a decathlete to a world-class sprint hurdler, and continued to coach on a small scale. Anderson died on 28 July 2024, at the age of 92 of

old age Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John 1931 births 2024 deaths Scottish television personalities Sportspeople from Glasgow People educated at Queen's Park Secondary School Olympic coaches for Great Britain British athletics coaches Scottish sports coaches Alumni of the Open University Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Schoolteachers from Glasgow Scottish football coaches Mass media people from Glasgow Gladiators (1992 British TV series) 20th-century Scottish sportsmen