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The RBK legend regrets never having accepted the Champions of the Champions and rejects that Bodø / Glimt is the best Norwegian football team of all time.
2020 will (finally) soon end. At the same time, a record number of Norwegians are laid off or unemployed. Many people are thinking of taking completely new paths. In this series of articles, several people profiled talk about how they faced an abrupt transition in work life. This time we have reached former footballer Bent Skammelsrud.
On December 23, 1997, the Golden Ball was awarded, the award for the best soccer player in the world. The Brazilian Ronaldo won, unsurprisingly, with 222 points.
In a shared 33rd position, with one point, we find the Norwegian Bent Skammelsrud, who has as many votes as Rivaldo (Barcelona). He also surpasses other nominees without points, such as Robbie Fowler (Liverpool), Hernan Crespo (Parma) and Robert Pires (Arsenal).
Only one other Norwegian, Rune Bratseth in 1992, has earned points in the prestigious award.
“One god – Skammelsrud” was the mantra of RBK supporters in the golden years in Lerkendal, and his name is inscribed in gold in the history of Trøndelag’s wild adventure in the Champions League in the 1990s.
As a defensive midfielder, Skammelsrud won 416 official matches for Rosenborg. In all, there were eleven incredible league championships and three gold cups.
– The miracle of San Siro in 1996, which took us to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, was a milestone. It was one before and one after that game, because we had caught a lot in Europe in the previous years. From there, we felt like we could beat anything and everyone, and several of us probably thought we could beat the entire Champions League. It sounds crazy, but we had such good momentum that anything could have happened, says Skammelsrud, who also points to the 1-0 win against Spain at the last European Championship in Norway in 2000 as a highlight of a long career.
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Unwanted by Hareide: – They had nothing for me
Think of soccer as a bubble full of experience, adrenaline and recognition. Rosenborg won gold after gold, and Skammelsrud was one of the most important players on the team.
In 2002, Skammelsrud was 36 years old and the legendary Nils Arne Eggen was replaced by Åge Hareide as Rosenborg coach. Hareide wanted a generational change and Skammelsrud was the eldest of the troop. The ring fox himself felt he had more to give and performed well, but Hareide said no.
Suddenly, his football career was the opposite of Skammelsrud.
– I remember thinking that at least I would not miss Nils Arne Eggen’s daily reprimands when I finished my degree. But it only took a day before I missed him. He saw us all the time. Suddenly, he was standing on the bare ground with nothing else, and he had to fill the void somehow.
When he left, Rosenborg said that Skammelrud should be taken care of and that he should get a role at the club.
– But they had nothing for me. Needless to say, it was difficult to work with a club that had just fired you. I walked for six months kicking the gravel and feeling that my life was unfair.
The feeling of emptiness came tellingly and the adrenaline rush of the soccer field could never be replaced. He had worked alongside soccer for long periods, and got up every morning at eight to go to work before training. But nothing had prepared him for life after football.
– I noticed that I had been in a flock of sheep all my life when my football career ended. Flying alone, for example, was a challenge. Nobody gave me the ticket and showed me where to go. In top-level sports, everything is laid out for you to perform at your best, but life afterwards consists, to a small extent, of that, says Skammelsrud, who would like clubs to do more to prepare players for the next. He passed.
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Took a whole new direction
Many footballers continue in football in various secondary roles, such as a coach, an expert on television or in other contexts. Soccer was Skammelsrud’s upbringing, and it was natural for him to try his luck in these roles too.
After being dumped by Rosenborg, Skammelsrud quickly started a conference where he shared experiences about the winning culture. He tried his hand as a junior coach alongside Kåre Ingebrigtsen, and had a short TV3 career as a commentator for the Champions League alongside Roar Stokke. He started a soccer school and coached boys between the ages of 10 and 14 until 2013.
Skammelsrud also came close to becoming Ranheim’s assistant coach at some point. They wanted it, but it never happened. Since then, the razor has diverted his gaze from football, at least as a job.
Massage chair seller
Few people would have thought that Bent Skammelsrud would start selling massage chairs for a living. Neither does Skammelsrud himself.
– A guy approached me and asked if I would start selling massage chairs. To put it mildly, he wasn’t very interested in it, says the 54-year-old.
But the former RBK captain rarely says no to a talk. Massage chairs are really something bigger, and something that Skammelsrud himself wishes he had as a football player.
– I was convinced that chairs have a lot to do with the mental part that all elite athletes need. It’s about relaxing and mentally preparing to do a job, says Skammelsrud.
Bwell chairs provide massages, powernaps, and brain training. In the middle of nowhere for Skammelsrud, according to himself. The competitive instinct hasn’t disappeared since he put his soccer shoes on the shelf.
– I still like to be measured, and that is why I am happy to have a job where a lot is about commissions and performance rather than fixed salary. I like the pressure, says Skammelsrud.
Also read: Anne rejected 150 million crowns for agricultural land
The chance of champion of champions that slipped
Now he is happy to have jumped off the soccer carousel. Instead of spending time on soccer games on weekends, the “soccer god” has free time. From Monday to Friday, you can prepare dinner for the family after work. It took him a while, but he feels himself that he has landed in the right place and is working on something he likes.
– Now that I’m out of the bubble, it’s easy to flirt with that moment. When you’re an elite athlete, you have to be 100 percent committed, whereas now I can lower my shoulders further, says Skammelsrud.
Many have wondered why the winning Skammelsrud skull has not appeared on NRK’s popular Mesternes Mester series, where former elite athletes compete in a wide range of hard exercises.
– I received the offer in the first season, but I said no. Gøran Sørloth replaced me. I’m the world’s most cowardly of those things there, and I’ve said no to the vast majority of requests, says Skammelsrud with a laugh, continuing:
– In hindsight, I should have said yes. My son was born when the show was taped, so I had a good excuse. But when I look back, it was a real “feel good” television that I think could use me.
The former RBK profile admits that he regrets saying no, and was actually in good shape when the first and second seasons were filmed. Today, however, he had not had a chance in all contexts, believes Skammelsrud himself.
“It’s too late, and I probably would have said no if they too had asked now.” I only get stretches when I look at the Master of Masters now. We Dance? I also said no. If the Master of Masters had asked me about season two, I probably would have come very close to saying yes, admits Skammelsrud.
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Comes with a trip to Bodø / Glimt
Although he no longer makes a living from football, Skammelsrud still follows him. Every once in a while, the 54-year-old appears on Adressa’s soccer podcast and isn’t afraid to say what he wants to say.
– Football is the least dangerous thing we can talk about, because there everyone can have an opinion. I only have one rule, and that is that I must not kick people from behind. I tried to avoid that as an active person as well, says Skammelsrud.
– Some experts believe that Bodø / Glimt is the best football team of all time in the Norwegian context. These are strong words. Do you think this year’s B / G could catch up to a RBK at the peak of the 1990s?
– Many said the same about Molde a few years ago as well, and people get a little carried away by feelings there and then. Bodø / Glimt are tremendously good and it’s great to see how they play. They are very similar to what we tested, and they have continued the thinking of Nils Arne Eggen, says Skammelsrud, adding:
– At the same time, it is difficult to compare different generations. It’s like saying that Maradona had not been close to the best players today. All compete in their time. But we were in the Champions League for eight years in a row, so we can pick up the thread when Bodø / Glimt has done the same.
In the meantime, Skammelsrud will continue to rent massage chairs to companies, whether in the sports community or elsewhere. He does not rule out doing something else during his working life, but emphasizes that he thrives very well in the job he has had for the past seven years.
– So you sold massage chairs to RBK?
– The club has been testing the chairs for a while, and the players and coaches Kåre and Eirik were satisfied. But we have no agreement. I see it more as a complement and a good measure to achieve margins. Between the ears is a lifetime, I say, also sporting achievements, says Skammelsrud.
Also read: Captain Reginiussen finished in RBK
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