Remembering Ebbe Skovdahl: ex-Aberdeen manager who became a popular figure through strength of character

Ebbe Skovdahl spent three-and-a-half seasons at Aberdeen. He didn’t win any trophies, he twice finished in the bottom half, once bottom of the table, and ultimately failed to get a once-proud club back among the elite of Scottish football, at least on a consistent basis. But when the sad news of his death at the age of 75 was announced, Dons supporters mainly had positive things to say.

Former Aberdeen manager Ebbe Skovdahl passed away today at the age of 75. Picture: SNS

The Danish manager was a popular figure in the North East despite his time essentially being something of a failure. Not only that, he remained a cult football figure both in the North East and the rest of Scotland, even to this day.

Inside the dressing room he was much the same. He was a memorable character who was there to try and improve the players’ careers.

“It’s very sad news. When stuff like this happens it takes you back to that time. I have very fond memories of my time at Aberdeen and Ebbe was a big reason for that. He was the man who took me to the club,” said David Preece, former Aberdeen goalkeeper.

“The people who he brought into the club had a big influence as well, like Peter Kjaer. Him and Ebbe were a big reason in me going to Denmark for four years. I wouldn’t be where I am now in Sweden [coaching at Östersunds] if I didn’t have that experience. He had a bigger influence on my career that even he probably realised.

“I’m just glad at the time when he did leave Aberdeen I got the chance to say how thankful I was and how grateful I was.”

A character

Skovdahl was viewed as an eccentric. Most foreign coaches are in the nepotistic world of Scottish football, but even he has managed to stand out in that admittedly limited crowd. His most famous quote, ‘statistics are like mini-skirts .. they give you good ideas but hide the most important parts’, is still repeated frequently in the present day. His tenure was unspectacular, but his legacy certainly wasn’t.

Guffawing at his odd phrases wasn’t a past-time limited to fans and the media, though. The unusual charm he exuded helped create a tight-knit dressing room during his time at Pittodrie.

“After the first year, a lot of experienced players left and he promoted a lot of guys from the youth team. So we had a really young squad and it was an atmosphere that cultivated a lot of friendships, a lot of really strong bonds. So much so that a lot of us speak today, and obviously he was a big part of that,” said Preece.

“We had a great laugh, a great time under him. A lot of the time when he was being funny and we were laughing at him, he wasn’t trying to be funny. It was just his nature. All these ‘Skovdahl-isms’ as I like to call them. You could tell he’d thought them through in his head in Danish but it didn’t really translate.

“Around the place he was quite a quiet and thoughtful man, but when he lost his temper that’s when you used to get the overlap of Danish and English and the little quirks came out.

“Most of the time he was being serious and it just ended up being funny. He said Peter Lovenkrands was ‘as quick as a sack of cheetahs’. I think it was Steven Tweed at Dundee - it was some big centre-half anyway. He said, ‘go and get behind him, he’s as stiff as a wedding d***’.

“His relationship with a group of players, barring a couple of older ones he brought in, who when he first became manager were between the ages of 17 and 23, it was like a group of naughty school kids trying to be controlled by a mad uncle.”

Cult hero

It’s hard to imagine there being a modern-day example of Skovdahl. Football, already 'Serious Business’ in the late 90s/early 2000s, has continued in that vain in the time since. Finishing bottom with Aberdeen today would be viewed as an immediate sackable offence, even if they were in the middle of a near two-decade malaise as they were back then.

But his popularity wasn’t just a sign of the times. There have been other Aberdeen managers who’ve performed similar jobs, some even better, who don’t get the same sort of reverence. It was one of the rare occasions when the sheer force of personality from a manager permeates through results, getting supporters to buy in even if the success isn’t immediately there.

“There were a lot of tough times on the pitch, but I think it’s a testament to the way Ebbe was. A lot of fans look back fondly and he’s regarded as something of a cult hero,” added Preece.

“It takes a special character to go into a club like Aberdeen, face the tough times that he did on and off the pitch, and still come out with people having mainly fond memories of you. We had some real rock bottom results, losing to Bohemians and getting beat 7-0 by Celtic. A lot of people wouldn't have come back from that. So for him to do so and to be fondly remembered, well, it's a testament to the man really.

“We took to him because of these little quirks of his character and the fans saw that as well. He was really invested in what he was doing. They could see that he genuinely cared what he was doing, that he genuinely cared about the club.”

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