Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says being ‘environmentally damaged’ made him a Liverpool fan as a kid

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Former Manchester United player and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted to being a Liverpool fan as a kid.

Solskjaer was dismissed from his role as Manchester United manager in November 2021 and has kept a low profile since.

The former striker made a rare appearance on a podcast, speaking to James Richardson’s Kings of Europe podcast, reminiscing on his Champions League winning goal in 1999.

In the interview Solskjaer reflected on celebrating his first United goal with Eric Cantona, and first being welcomed to the club by Nicky Butt.

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Solskjaer on being a Liverpool fan

Solskjaer reflected on growing up as a Liverpool fan in Norway, describing himself as a product of the 80s, simply supporting the most successful team at the time.

He said: “I must have been environmentally damaged. We had Match of the Day every Saturday and Liverpool were the better team in the eighties.

“Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and yes I followed Liverpool, one of these supporters that just followed because they won everything.

“Hard enough to say as a Manchester United player, but they were the better team in the eighties.”

Despite this, Solskjaer says he jumped at the chance to sign for Manchester United in 1996 and was confident he could make an impact, which he did, scoring on his debut against Blackburn, netting 18 goals in his first season in 33 games.

He said: “Turning round after scoring and seeing Eric Cantona coming celebrating I think that was a big shock and welcome to England and here you are. I used to adore Eric. He was the catalyst, the leader of the team. Suddenly he comes and thanks me for scoring a goal and saving a point.”

Solskjaer on scoring the Treble winning goal

Three years later Solskjaer scored the biggest goal in Manchester United’s history when he netted the injury time winner against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, clinching an unprecedented Treble.

Speaking about his mindset after Teddy Sheringham’s equaliser, he said: “I don’t think any of us thought we’ll score another one. In my mind I was ready for thirty minutes of extra time, definitely.”

Solskjaer would score the goal to clinch the game minutes later, breaking Bayern hearts and sending Manchester United fans into dreamland.

“Teddy flicks it on and luckily, I got a big toe,” was how Solskjaer described his miraculous late winner.

He said he overriding feeling after the game was happiness for manager Sir Alex Ferguson, commenting: “I remember thinking, you deserve this Sir Alex, we did it for him. You could see the joy in his eyes.”