Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

John Anderson: Gladiators fans recall glory days of ref who lived in Fife and coached Dundee hero Liz McColgan

Before finding TV fame, the Scot was a PE teacher and top athletics coach.

Gladiators ref John Anderson pictured in 1996. Image: ITV/Shutterstock
Gladiators ref John Anderson pictured in 1996. Image: ITV/Shutterstock

Gladiators fans hailed its return to TV on the BBC – but many claimed Mark Clattenburg struggled to fill the shoes of legendary referee John Anderson.

The show was watched by more than six million people on Saturday night, with former English Premier League official Clattenburg taking centre stage as the man in the middle.

But viewers were quick to compare him to the former Fife resident, famed for his “Contenders ready! Gladiators ready!” catchphrase.

John – now 92 and based in Leicestershire – was the ref on the original series from 1992 to 2000 and also appeared in Sky One’s reboot of the programme in 2008.

‘Scaring s*** out of everyone’

@GIBBY316 wrote on X: “I only have one problem with the new Gladiators TV show – it’s missing John Anderson’s Scottish twang.”

@victoriaannette said: “Loving the reboot! Would love to see John Anderson make a wee appearance.

“Hear his voice every time the ref speaks.”

Mark Clattenburg during his days as a top-flight football referee.
John Anderson in his Gladiators uniform. Image: ITV

@Pleyndamour added: “It just isn’t the same without John Anderson as referee.”

@David_Strathdee wrote: “New #Gladiators was brilliant, felt just like the original.

“Missing John Anderson as the referee though – it wasn’t quite the same without a bellowing Glaswegian accent scaring the s*** out of everyone involved.”

‘Why the accent?’

Others accused Durham-born Clattenburg, 48, of putting on a Scottish accent.

@StephenLightley wrote: “I’m howling at Clattenburg on Gladiators. Why’s he’s adopted a semi-Scottish accent to shout ‘Gladiators reeeeady’?”

@redmanc07 added: “So is Mark Clattenburg putting on a Scottish accent to mimic the original legendary John Anderson?”

Before finding TV fame, John was a top athletics coach, leading Scotland at the Commonwealth Games and guiding Liz McColgan to Olympic silver in 1988.

Liz McColgan with a silver medal at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

The pair later fell out when Liz dropped him.

A £75,000 legal action against the Dundee hero brought by Anderson was settled out of court in 1992.

Leaving Fife

The Glasgow-born coach, who had also worked as a PE teacher, lived in Pitreavie, Dunfermline, for many years.

He sold his £220,000 home in the late 90s and moved south of the border to be nearer wife Dorothy’s family.

In 2016, he told The Herald: “I was walking the dog last June and felt a slightly odd sensation in my right chest.

“After 10 days – still on the bike and in the gym, walking the dog and mowing the lawn – my wife, Dorothy, insisted I see the doctor.

“They said I’d had a heart attack. They stuck some stents and I am fine. I am too ugly to die.”

Conversation