Anderson's senior career in football began when he stepped up from Dalkeith Boys Club to sign for Dundee United in January 2001.
"[7] Seven days after signing for the Saints, Anderson made his professional football debut, starting the whole game, in a 1–0 win over Raith Rovers.
[1] However, Anderson received a straight red card for a foul on Hamed Sacko with 10 minutes left, as the club lose 1–0 against Raith Rovers.
[19] The 2007–08 season saw the departure of manager Coyle and was succeeded by Derek McInnes[1] Anderson continued to remain a first team regular despite facing competitions.
[1][25] But Anderson was able to prove himself when he was fit enough for a place on the bench and came on to good effect in matches against Dunfermline Athletic and Ross County as a substitute.
In the opening game of the 2010–11 season, however, Anderson received a straight red card for "scything" down on Suso Santana, in a 1–1 draw against Hearts.
[43] Anderson regained his first team place, forming a central defensive partnership with Michael Duberry for the rest of the 2010–11 season.
[45] After serving their suspension, both Anderson and Duberry returned to the starting line–up and helped the Saints kept three consecutive clean sheets in the last three league matches of the season.
[47][48] Following the departure of his defensive partner Duberry, Anderson started his 2011–12 season, appearing in the first two league games, forming a centre–back partnership with Frazer Wright.
[56] It wasn’t until on 28 March 2012 when Anderson returned from injury, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–0 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
[63] After serving a one match suspension, Anderson returned to the starting line–up against Cowdenbeath in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup and set up of the goals, in a 4–0 win.
The start of the 2013–14 season when Anderson played in both legs, winning 2–1 against Norwegian side Rosenberg in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.
[69] However, he played in both legs in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round against Minsk as the club were eliminated on penalties following a 1–1 draw on aggregate.
[83] On 17 May 2014, Anderson started in the Scottish Cup Final at Celtic Park against Dundee United and scored the first goal of the game, as St Johnstone won 2–0 to win the trophy for the first time.
"[86] National newspaper The Herald said about his performance, saying: "Guided a header inside the post to open the scoring on the stroke of half-time and defended well throughout.
[92] Following the club’s elimination from the tournament, Anderson returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 win against Ross County in the opening league game of the season.
[102] On the last game of the season, Anderson led St Johnstone beat Aberdeen 1–0 to help the club qualify for the UEFA Europa League for the third year running.
[110] After appearing in the next four matches as an unused substitute, due to Tommy Wright being wary of reintroducing him to the first team squad too quickly, he returned to the starting line–up against Inverness Caledonian Thistle and helped the club kept a clean sheet, in a 1–0 win on 24 October 2015.
[117][118] With Anderson’s chances of reaching the club’s most appearance becomes imminent, he equalled Alan Main’s record against Ross County on 16 March 2016, only for him to give away the penalty, in a 1–1 draw.
[135] In a follow–up match, during a1–1 draw with Rangers, Anderson was struck by Rob Kiernan, which was caught on live by the broadcasting and the officials didn’t take action at the time.
[137] For this, Kiernan was offered a two-match suspension for violent conduct by the Scottish Football Association, however he chose to contest the charge and it was ultimately dismissed by disciplinary tribunal on 12 January 2017.
However at the start of the 2017–18 season, Anderson missed both legs of the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round against FK Riteriai, as St Johnstone lost 3–1 on aggregate and was eliminated from the tournament.
[147] In a follow–up match against Partick Thistle in the last 16 of the Scottish League Cup, Anderson made his 400th appearance for the Saints, in a 3–0 loss and the club was eliminated from the tournament.
[148] When both clubs met again in the league on 20 August 2017, he got their revenge for St Johnstone by setting up the only goal of the game for Michael O'Halloran to win the match.
[151] After serving a one match suspension, Anderson returned to the starting line–up against Ross County on 24 October 2017 and helped the club kept a clean sheet, in a 0–0 draw.
[157] A month later on 28 April 2018, Anderson made his 250th top-flight appearance for St Johnstone, starting the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against Partick Thistle.
[188] Anderson made his debut for Forfar Athletic, only for him to be substituted in the 9th minute due to suffering an achilles problem, in a 2–0 loss against Partick Thistle on 12 December 2020, in what turns out to be his only appearance of the season.
[192] He made his first appearance of the season, starting a match and played 64 minutes, in a 1–0 win against Formartine United in the first round of the Scottish Challenge Cup.
[205] On 6 January 2024, Anderson signed with East of Scotland Football League team Broxburn Athletic until the end of the 2023–24 season.
[153][215] Teammate Danny Swanson felt that Anderson should be included in the Scotland squad, pointing out that Gordon Greer was called up at 33 years old.