Former Aberdeen midfielder Cato Guntveit has replaced the buzz he used to get from taking to the Pittodrie pitch with the competition of the padel court.
In an interview with The Press and Journal, Guntveit, 48, spoke about his passion for the adapted form of tennis which has become a phenomenon across Europe.
He revealed, even while battling it out representing Norway at elite competitions abroad, he has been spotted by the Red Army.
Guntveit, who played for the Dons under the late Ebbe Skovdahl from 1999-2002, said: “I started playing three years ago, when I was 45.
“It’s kind of special that you can find a completely new thing at that age, and be competitive at some level – at least until the youngsters catch up!
“Last year I was in Alicante and played the European Seniors Championships and we played against Great Britain.
“There was a Scot there, who came over after we played them, and he asked: ‘Are you Cato?’
“He was Aberdonian and recognised me. It was quite funny, and we had a good chat about Aberdeen and my time there.”
Getting Robbie Winters playing padel
Guntveit started up Bergen Padel Club, which has swelled to 420 members in two years.
He even got his former Aberdeen and SK Brann team-mate Robbie Winters holding a racquet on a recent trip to Norway, saying: “Robbie Winters was over in Bergen two weeks ago.
“Heading out to the airport, we had plenty of time. He knew about padel tennis, but didn’t know what it was.
“I said: ‘Hey, we’ve got 10 minutes, right? I’m going to stop by the padel courts.’
“We walked in, borrowed a couple of rackets and some balls, and we went out and tried it.
“I could see him immediately kind of falling in love with it.”
‘I’m not really into football the way many would expect’
Despite having dedicated the first half of his life to a different ball game, Guntveit admits football has fallen down his list of priorities.
Guntveit added: “I’m a bit different from other footballers – 90% want to go into coaching and managing – no thank you! I wanted my weekends off when I was finished with football.
“I’ve played old boys’ (football) with mates, (which is for) plus-35/plus-40 (years old).
“Robbie’s been over at least two times playing with Brann in the unofficial Norwegian championship indoor futsal. I think we won that at least three or four times over a period of five, six, seven years.
“I played a bit of football up until Covid came. But I haven’t touched a ball since.
“I’m not really into football the way many would expect – Brann supporters are shocked when they hear I haven’t been to Brann Stadium this year.
“I watch the games if they are on telly, but if I’ve got a padel match when a game’s on, it’s an easy choice.”
Guntveit has worked in finance since hanging up his boots, having started in a trainee role during his eight-year post-Aberdeen spell back at Brann, before going full-time in the industry afterwards.
He is married to Christene, and the couple have three daughters – Sara, 23 (born in Aberdeen), Emma, 19, and Mali, 15.
Though it remains an interesting line on Guntveit’s Wikipedia page, he revealed the Bergen toyshop the family owned during his time at Aberdeen is no more.
“We stopped doing that five or six years after I left Aberdeen,” he said.
Gunveit and Thomas Solberg: ‘Thomas is my best mate’
Alongside Winters, another familiar Dons name who is still part of Guntveit’s life is “best mate” Thomas Solberg, with the two Norwegians having lived on the same Kingswells street during their time at Aberdeen.
Despite ex-defender Solberg being based outside Oslo, an hour’s flight or an eight-hour drive from Bergen, the duo see each other “at least three, four, five times a year”.
A shared interest in golf from their Dons days saw them travel to Rome to watch countryman Viktor Hovland help Team Europe claim the Ryder Cup last year.
“We were there the full week and I think it was the best week of my life,” Guntveit said.
Cato Guntveit knocked out before even touching the ball for Aberdeen – ‘that was my welcome to Scotland’
Cato Guntveit reckons he hadn’t even touched the ball before being “absolutely flattened” on his Aberdeen midfield debut and waking up “10 seconds later”.
Having penned a Pittodrie pre-contract, Guntveit joined Aberdeen from boyhood club SK Brann on three-year deal in November 1999 – a few months into the 1999/2000 Scottish top-flight campaign, and following the conclusion of Norway’s summer season.
He was named in Ebbe Skovdahl’s starting line-up for a Scottish Premier League trip to Dundee United on November 6.
Within the first minute, Guntveit understood how fast and “physical” our domestic game could be when Jan Talesnikov scissors-tackled him out wide.
Guntveit said: “I got passed the ball from the full-back. I remember maybe taking a touch, and then I woke up 10 seconds later.
“I’ve got a photo of that tackle.
“He knew I was a new signing, and he just absolutely flattened me from behind.
“It was hilarious somebody caught that moment – I don’t know if I had a touch in Scotland before he did that to me!
“But that was my welcome to Scotland.”
Aberdeen lost the Tannadice clash 3-1, continuing a dismal run which saw Danish boss Ebbe Skovdahl, in his maiden season as Reds gaffer, take just one victory from his first 15 Scottish Premier League matches – the solitary win having come in a remarkable 6-5 Fir Park win over Motherwell on October 20.
However, Guntveit – who would play 29 times in all competitions for the Dons in 1999/2000, scoring four goals – felt Skovdahl earned the buy-in from most of the Reds squad as the campaign progressed.
And, though they still finished 10th in the league, it set the scene for improved SPL finishes – seventh, then fourth – in the next two seasons.
Norwegians Thomas Solberg, Guntveit and Arild Stavrum were all signed between August and November 1999, and Guntveit thinks their arrival helped change “the atmosphere” in the dressing room.
Guntveit, who recalled the “very nice memory” of scoring a header from Andreas Mayer’s pinpoint cross in a 1-1 Pittodrie draw with Rangers in latter part of the season, said: “When I came in, I felt he was maybe not a trusted manager and they (the players) maybe did not believe in the project.
“I think it might have helped bringing in the Scandinavian players he did – players who were used to more the mentality of getting on with it and getting the job done.”
Explaining Skovdahl’s ‘lost in translation’ phrases to Aberdeen team-mates
Guntveit had not met Skovdahl when he initially agreed to sign for Aberdeen, but thinks the duo got on well after he arrived in Granite City due to the half-Danish player’s ability to converse with the manager in his native tongue.
He could also help explain the former Brondby boss’ often “lost in translation” sayings to his confused and amused team-mates.
“I knew what he meant because it was a direct translation of good phrases in Danish, but when you translate them directly, they turn quite funny,” Guntveit said.
‘Strange’ 2000 Scottish Cup final experience
Despite their league standing, Skovdahl led Aberdeen into both domestic cup finals in his first season, going down 2-0 to Celtic in the League Cup showpiece, before suffering a 4-0 hammering in the Scottish Cup final against Rangers.
The latter fixture at Hampden is remembered for Reds striker Robbie Winters donning the goalie gloves after Gers forward Rod Wallace broke keeper Jim Leighton’s jaw in just the third minute of action.
Guntveit said: “It was just a very strange situation. Of course, he (Wallace) should’ve pulled out – but it was just a freak accident.
“Us beating Rangers or Celtic in a cup final those years would’ve been an achievement no matter what.
“But when you lose your goalkeeper, and with the funny rules you could only have three subs on the bench, and could either bring three outfield players or an extra goalie, that put us in a spot of bother having Robbie in goals.
“We had to be careful they couldn’t fire a shot from 30 yards out and it made it even more difficult.”
Achilles issue hampered Guntveit’s third Dons season – with infection sidelining him for year after Pittodrie exit
Though industrious right-sided central midfielder Guntveit had some niggling injuries during his first and second season – including a toe problem which forced him off at half-time in the earlier League Cup final loss to Celtic in his debut campaign – it was his third season with the Dons (2001/2002) which was heavily disrupted by an Achilles problem.
The injury initially ruled him out from August until late-November, before eventually limiting him to a tally of just 18 starts over the campaign.
Guntveit said: “I never snapped my Achilles, but I had an inflammation that just wouldn’t go away.
“So they opened me up in Aberdeen in February/March just to clean it, and it turned out I got an infection through that operation.
With his contract running down in the opening months of 2002, Guntveit – who had spoken publicly about his eagerness to remain at Aberdeen – managed to play and show his capabilities enough to be offered an extension to remain at Pittodrie for another three years.
He had netted against Hibs for a third consecutive season, while, in December, he played 90 minutes as the Dons beat Celtic 2-0 at Pittodrie thanks to goals from Winters and Darren Mackie.
However, the financial implications of the collapse of Scottish football’s TV deal moved the contract goalposts, and led to Guntveit opting to return to Brann instead.
He said: “I was waiting for my agent to come over and go through the details, and then Setanta Sports pulled out.
“The offer, I don’t remember the exact numbers, but it kind of halved before and after (the) Setanta Sports (issue).
“We had a kid, and Brann had contacted me – the sports director there was a good mate of mine – so I took up the contact with a him.
“It just kind of came down to the uncertainty of Scottish football – we didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Guntveit insists he is “95% certain” he would have stayed at Aberdeen had the TV crisis not intervened.
As it was, Guntveit went back to the Norwegian top-flight.
The Achilles infection meant he was out of action for around 14 months, from his season-ending operation at the Dons until the start of Norway’s 2003 season, before he finally made his second Brann debut.
Still, he says, his return proved to be a “fantastic” decision.
Guntveit’s second spell at Brann would run for eight years until 2010.
Having put in a good word for former Pittodrie team-mate Robbie Winters – who played for Brann from 2002 to 2008 – the pair claimed the 2004 Norwegian Cup and 2007 Tippeligaen title together.
“It had been many, many, many years since we’d won them. I played as captain and work-wise I got the chance to do what I’m doing now – so everything turned out,” said Guntveit.
He then had a further three years playing semi-professionally at Oystese in the Norwegian fourth-tier from 2010-2013 after departing Brann for the second time.
Guntveit added: “It would be interesting to find out how things would’ve turned out if I’d been in Aberdeen for another three years. Maybe more.
“I loved my time in Aberdeen… the players, staff, city – I absolutely loved it!
“I would’ve liked to have tried both paths.”
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