Manchester United Hall Of Fame: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Ole Solskjaer celebrates THAT goal

You would be hard pressed to find a Man United fan that does not like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

As well as being a great goal scorer, a trophy winner and a model professional the ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ was a class act. When he was awarded with the Royal Norwegian order of St.Olav First Class, Egil Vindorum, head of the Oslo place chancellery, explained,

“What is being honoured are his attitudes, his way of being. He is a role model for children and young people, what he did on the soccer field has nothing to do with it. We’ll leave that to others, like the Norwegian Football Federation.”

And this is a testament to the character of the Manchester United legend.

Never did he moan or complain about being on the bench rather he worked hard and when the opportunity presented itself he grabbed it with both hands. He was self less and always put the needs of United ahead of himself.

In 1998, United were losing their grip on the League and in a game against Newcastle he was thrown on late in order to try and grab a win as 1-1 was not good enough. David Beckham, who had scored United’s equaliser, played a ball into the box but Newcastle cleared quicker than expected. As Rob Lee bore down on goal, Solskjaer sacrificed himself and swiped Rob Lee’s standing leg. The danger had been averted but Solskjaer would have to be punished receiving a straight red card for his intentional foul. As he left the field he received a standing ovation from the Stretford End, they fully appreciated the sacrifice he had just made to keep their title dream alive.

Signed from FK Molde after United missed out on Alan Shearer, Solskjaer would hit 18 goals in his first season helping United secure the title in the last week of the 1996-1997 season. He would go on to acquire the tag super sub after coming off the bench numerous times to score and famously got 4 goals in 12 minutes as United beat Nottingham Forest 8-1.

As memorable as that match was his finest moment came in the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich. United had looked dead and buried but Solskjaer was introdcued in the 81st minute to see if he could change the game around. In extra time Teddy Sherringham  grabbed an equaliser to make it 1-1 and with another corner United packed the box as they went for the kill against a shaken Bayern side. Beckham’s corner was knocked on by Teddy Sherringham only for Ole to put it into the net and win the Champions League for United, at the same time cementing his place in United history.

Solskjaer was way more than just a super sub and the fact that he started 217 of his 367 matches proves this. Injury hampered his career and with United signing Ruud Van Nistelrooy, preferring to play with a lone striker, he moved to right wing in place of an injured David Beckham where he also shone.

So much in fact that Beckham failed to dislodge him when he returned to fitness and that coupled with a falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson spelled the end of the superstar’s Old Trafford career as he moved to Real Madrid.

Solskjaer brought the curtain down on his playing career in 2007 scoring his 126th and final goal against Blackburn in a 4-1 United win.

But this was not the end of his affiliation with United as he would go on to take up an ambassador’s role at the club in the summer of the same year, become a patron for supporters action group MUST (Manchester United Supporters Trust) and is now manager of the reserve side where it is hoped he can impart on the younger players of this flashy generation the humility that he showed throughout his career.

When he received his award in his home town of Kristiansund, the mayor Dagfinn Ripnes, stated:

“Many in his position become playboys and suffer symptoms from being a star,” he said. “Ole Gunnar remained the same down-to-earth, good guy.”

And its because of this, as well as the goals that Ole is and forever will be loved by United fans.