He was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Rugby Union in February 2004,[2] after several years of successful marketing within the SRU.
[3] These were criticised by Sir Clive Woodward as "more like a pop concert than a rugby match" after the Calcutta Cup game in Edinburgh in 2004, but Anderton was unrepentant on both counts.
[4] From March 2005 to October 2005, he served as the Chief Executive of the Scottish Premier League football club Hearts.
[2] Anderton's dismissal as chief executive by majority owner Vladimir Romanov prompted Hearts chairman, George Foulkes, to resign in protest.
[2] Anderton then served as chief executive of the Al-Jazira Club in Abu Dhabi, but resigned for personal reasons.