Per Ciljan Skjelbred (born 16 June 1987) is a Norwegian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Ranheim Ranheim is a neighbourhood in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the borough of Østbyen in Trondheim Municipality. The neighbourhood is approximately to the east of the centre of Trondheim. It comprises Older ...

. He has previously played for Hertha Berlin and

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

, and has been capped 43 times playing for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, but as of 2017, retired from international football.

Club career

Skjelbred was born in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

and started his career at local football club Trygg/Lade. He made an impression, and was selected to compete in a football talent competition entitled ''Proffdrømmen'' ("Pro player dreams") on Norwegian TV3. Skjelbred won this competition and as first prize, he got a week's training with

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. The English club offered him a contract for their youth team, but he declined. Instead, he went to hometown club Rosenborg, where he soon came into first-team reckoning. Skjelbred made his senior debut in the

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

against Bodø/Glimt in 2004, and aged 16 years and 358 days became the second-youngest player to play for Rosenborg. After scoring a goal in the first match of the 2005 Champions League against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, he was tackled in the return match at Lerkendal on 23 November by Ieroklis Stoltidis; both bones in Skjelbred's lower leg snapped just above the ankle. Although he went in with both legs and had no chance of getting the ball, Stoltidis said he had not meant to harm Skjelbred. Skjelbred returned to football on 10 March 2006 in

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien (football), Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles ...

's match against

Aalesunds FK Aalesunds Fotballklubb, commonly known as Aalesund or AaFK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from the town of Ålesund (town), Ålesund, that competes in the Norwegian first division, the second tier of the Norwegi ...

, playing the first half of the match which Rosenborg won 5–1. Skjelbred joined the German side

in August 2011. After playing 268 minutes for the club in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, Skjelbred's transfer was called a "mistake" (Bisher Fehlgriff) by '' Kicker'' in November 2011, and in November 2012 Skjelbred was named one of five players that HSV stated they would sell when the transfer window opened in January 2013. However, after the 2013 January transfer window closed, Skjelbred remained a Hamburg player. In the summer of 2013, he was loaned for one season to

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

, who in turn loaned Pierre-Michel Lasogga to Hamburg. After a very successful loan spell at Hertha (he was also voted Bundesliga Norwegian Player of the Season during this time), Skjelbred finally moved to Berlin permanently during the 2014 Summer transfer window. In February 2020, Skjelbred confirmed he would return to Rosenborg beginning from the summer 2020 after his contract with Hertha Berlin expires. Ahead of the 2024 season, Skjelbred signed for

. Originally a one-year contract with the club, Skjelbred signed a one-year extension in September 2024.

International career

Skjelbred's debut at the international stage came in 2003 with Norways U16 team. He subsequently made appearances for the U17, U18, and U19 teams as well. Skjelbred was first called up for the Norwegian under-21 team in September 2005, at the age of 18. He made his debut for senior team against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 28 March 2007. On 3 September 2014 Skjelbred captained the Norwegian national side for the first time against England at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. England won the match 1-0 thanks to a

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

penalty. Per was handed the captain's armband after previous captain, Brede Hangeland retired from international football. On 22 February 2017 Skjelbred retired from the national team.

Personal life

Skjelbred married Kristina Jørgensen in October 2012. Together they have two children Eline Sofie and Jonathan.

Career statistics

Club

International

Norway score listed first, score column indicates score after each Skjelbred goal.

Honours

Rosenborg *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Superfinalen:

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skjelbred, Per Ciljan 1987 births Living people Footballers from Trondheim Men's association football midfielders Norwegian men's footballers Norway men's youth international footballers Norway men's under-21 international footballers Norway men's international footballers Rosenborg BK players Hamburger SV players Hertha BSC players Ranheim Fotball players Eliteserien players Bundesliga players Norwegian First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Norwegian expatriate men's footballers 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen