Edvard Skagestad (born 6 July 1988) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

for Follo. Skagestad played five seasons for Aalesund in

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

and one season for

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play thei ...

in Allsvenskan. He has represented Norway at youth international level.

Early life

Born and raised in Ås,

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

. Skagestad was involved in athletics while attending senior high school. He initially played Basketball, and did not start focusing on football until around the age of 18. He describes himself as a moderate supporter of

Arsenal FC Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (incl ...

Club career

Starting his youth career in his community, Skagestad previously played for Ås IL. Skagestad later played for local club Follo from 2006 to 2010, and he played the cup final against Strømsgodset in 2010, which Follo lost 2–0. He joined Aalesund ahead of the 2011-season as a free agent. He immediately stated that his goal for the season was to play for a permanent spot. After making a series of good performances in the 2011 pre-season, Skagestad suffered a bout of hamstring-injuries which kept him on the sidelines until late April. He made his debut in the cup-win against Stranda, and his first league debut came later on 29 May in the 2–0 home win against

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. He was again injured in the 4–0 win over

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

but quickly recovered. During the last half of the 2011 season there was an acute shortage of qualified strikers in Aalesund's squad. Skagestad, who originally was a right back, was then forced to play as a striker and occasionally as a winger. He went on to receive praise for his performance At one point, Skagestad made the starting-eleven as a striker while the actual strikers Sander Post, Didrik Fløtre and

Solomon Okoronkwo Solomon Ndubisi Okoronkwo (born 2 March 1987) is a Nigerian footballer who plays for NOFV-Oberliga club CFC Hertha 06. Career He was discovered in 2004 by FIFA agent Marcelo Houseman, who got his guardianship and took him to Hertha BSC. In Oc ...

was referred to the bench. His first goal for the club came on 30 October in a 1–1 away draw against

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

. The 2011 season ended triumphantly for Skagestad as he was chosen to start, again as a striker, the 2011 Cup final against Brann. A match which Aalesund won 2–1. In the run-up to the 2012 season, Skagestad was again chosen as a striker, this time due to rampant injuries suffered by

Leke James Leke Samson James (born 1 November 1992) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Sivasspor in Süper Lig. Club career Early career He started out his career in his native homeland playing for Bridge Boys. Aalesund He ...

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and Lars Fuhre. He answered by actively part-taking in defeating Dutch powerhouse

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese ...

in the Maspalomas Cup. His strong performances in the pre-season as a striker earned him a starting spot throughout the first half of the season, which again made him target of the local media, who were frustrated by the club's inability to produce an actual striker. Despite being brought to the club as a

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, Skagestad ended up playing most of the matches as a striker. After the home loss against rivals Molde on 6 May, Aalesund's head coach

Kjetil Rekdal Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player. He is the manager of Eliteserien club Rosenborg. Rekdal began his playing career in Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the Bundesliga, Lig ...

were facing outside pressure and slowly started utilizing Skagestad as a full back, replacing him as a forward with the Jamaican newcomer Tremaine Stewart. By mid-season however, Skagestad found himself playing midfielder, once again due to injuries devastating the squad. Commentators noted that the full-back had essentially played in every single position except as goalkeeper after arriving at the club. Skagestad played for Aalesund for three seasons, and played 28 matches when the team finished fourth in the 2013 Tippeligaen, which was his last season. On 29 November 2013 he was presented as a new signing for the Swedish club

, and he joined the club in January 2014.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at altomfotball.no * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skagestad, Edvard 1988 births Living people People from Ås, Akershus Norwegian footballers Norway youth international footballers Association football defenders Follo FK players Aalesunds FK players IFK Norrköping players Fredrikstad FK players Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball players Norwegian First Division players Norwegian Second Division players Eliteserien players Allsvenskan players Norwegian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Sweden Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Sportspeople from Viken (county)