sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Nicholas Jack Wilmer Anderton (born 22 April 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays for League One club Bristol Rovers, as a left back.

Nick Anderton

Anderton playing for Bristol Rovers in 2022.
Personal information
Full name	Nicholas Jack Wilmer Anderton[1]
Date of birth	(1996-04-22) 22 April 1996 (age 26)
Place of birth	Preston, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s)	Left back
Club information
Current team	Bristol Rovers
Number	16
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2016	Preston North End	0	(0)
2014	→ Chorley (loan)
2014	→ Gateshead (loan)	4	(0)
2014–2015	→ Barrow (loan)	9	(0)
2015	→ Aldershot Town (loan)	11	(0)
2015–2016	→ Barrow (loan)	21	(0)
2016–2017	Barrow	43	(1)
2017–2020	Blackpool	16	(0)
2018–2019	→ Accrington Stanley (loan)	22	(0)
2020–2021	Carlisle United	49	(4)
2021–	Bristol Rovers	34	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:10, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

Career

Born in Preston,[2] Anderton began his career at Preston North End, moving on loan to Chorley in March 2014 alongside Alex Nicholson.[3] He turned professional in May 2014, at the same time as Jack Ryan.[4] He joined Gateshead on loan in October 2014,[5] and Barrow in December 2014,[6] although the latter loan ended early due to injury.[7] He moved on loan to Aldershot Town in August 2015,[8] before returning to Barrow on loan in November 2015.[6][9] He signed permanently for Barrow in May 2016, signing a two-year contract.[6][10] In January 2017 he was linked with a transfer to Bradford City, amongst purported interest from other Football League clubs.[11] He signed for Blackpool in June 2017.[12] He moved on loan to Accrington Stanley in August 2018.[13]

Anderton signed an eighteen-month contract with Carlisle United on 16 January 2020.[14] Ahead of the 2020–21 season, Anderton was appointed as club captain.[15]

Bristol Rovers

On 26 May 2021, Anderton signed a two-year contract with recently relegated League Two side Bristol Rovers, with effect from 1 July 2021.[16][17] Anderton made his debut for the club on the opening day of the season, starting as a central defender as Rovers' return to League Two started with a late defeat at Mansfield Town.[18] On 30 October 2021, Anderton opened his account for the club when he scored the only goal as Rovers got an impressive away win at high-flying Harrogate Town with his scuffed effort in the 64th minute settling the match.[19] Anderton played an important role as he achieved a first career promotion with Rovers' 7–0 victory over Scunthorpe United on the final day of the season seeing them move into third position on goals scored.[20]

On 28 July 2022, it was announced that Anderton had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer requiring him to undergo an operation on his femur.[21][22] On the opening day of the 2022–23 season as Rovers hosted Forest Green Rovers, both sets of players wore shirts in the warm-up to show their support for Anderton; there was also applause in the sixteenth minute of the match, representing Anderton's shirt number at Rovers. During the match, after Aaron Collins equalised, he dedicated the goal to his teammate, holding up a replica shirt with Anderton's name on the back.[23] After the match, manager Joey Barton said that Anderton's surgery would likely leave him unable to walk for a year, vowing that both he and the club would support the player and his young family with Barton promising to run the London Marathon in order to raise money for him.[24] Anderton underwent a successful treatment in October 2022 to remove the tumour.[25]

Career statistics

As of match played 23 April 2022

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Preston North End	2014–15[26]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2015–16[27]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Gateshead (loan)	2014–15[2]	Conference Premier	4	0	1	0	—		0	0	5	0
Barrow (loan)	2014–15[2]	Conference North	9	0	0	0	—		0	0	9	0
Aldershot Town (loan)	2015–16[2]	National League	11	0	0	0	—		0	0	11	0
Barrow (loan)	2015–16[2]	National League	21	0	0	0	—		2[lower-alpha 1]	0	23	0
Barrow	2016–17[2]	National League	43	1	5	0	—		5[lower-alpha 1]	0	53	1
Blackpool	2017–18[28]	League One	4	0	1	0	1	0	5[lower-alpha 2]	0	11	0
	2018–19[29]	League One	10	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	11	0
	2019–20[30]	League One	2	0	0	0	1	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	5	0
	Total		16	0	1	0	3	0	7	0	27	0
Accrington Stanley (loan)	2018–19[29]	League One	22	0	0	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 2]	0	25	0
Carlisle United	2019–20[30]	League Two	10	2	—		—		—		10	2
	2020–21[31]	League Two	39	2	2	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	43	2
	Total		49	4	2	0	1	0	1	0	53	4
Bristol Rovers	2021–22[32]	League Two	34	1	3	1	1	0	1	1	39	3
Career total			109	6	12	1	5	0	19	1	245	8

References

---