PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is one of Swedish handball’s greatest ever.
Today we pay tribute to the giant Magnus Wislander on his 60th birthday.
And the Swedish legend opens up about his new life as an unemployed person.
In the 80s hit Magnus Wislander through big at Redbergslid and perfectly poured in goals. There were a total of 658 goals in 164 matches and four SM golds with the Gothenburg team before the moving team went abroad to conquer Europe.
Wislander’s career
In the coming decades, he became “The Snake” with the entire Swedish people and one of our country’s – and the world’s – foremost handball players of all time. Wislander won a whopping 13 titles with German big club Kiel and scored an unparalleled 1,371 goals in 369 games as a centre-six.
The article continues after the picture.
He was also one of the major key players in Sweden’s legendary national team edition “Bengan Boys”. Where there would be three straight Olympic silvers, double World Cup gold, double World Cup silver, double World Cup bronze and four European Championship golds during a blue-yellow heyday.
Been postman
Magnus Wislander also scored 1,185 goals in 384 international matches in Sweden’s jersey and with that has both the most points and the most games in the history of the national team. In 1990, the Swedish icon was named the world’s best handball player and at the turn of the millennium he received the mighty award as the very best handball player of the entire 20th century.
The article continues below.
During the early 2000s, Wislander moved back home to Gothenburg and then continued to work as a postman for Posten. Which then led to a manager’s job at Postnord and throughout all the years Magnus has faithfully worked there – right up until 2023.
Got fired
When he was suddenly fired in connection with a reorganization, after 36 years of service.
– I received a call that they had chosen to proceed with other candidates. “But thank you”, sort of. Or I didn’t even get a thank you, just the message that I would contact the HR department. I asked for a reason for their decision but didn’t get one. There was no reason, Wislander tells Aftonbladet.
– After 16-17 years as a manager in a good office all the time and happy employees who now became very sad, they simply chose to fire me.
The article continues after the picture.
Today, Wislander has been unemployed for almost a year, even though he “makes extra money” as a handball expert at Radiosporten in between.
– It was a slap in the face because you know you’ve done a damn good job all these years. I have taken over problem offices and fixed them and then moved to a new one. And then you get a foot in the door. It’s a small blow that takes a toll on the psyche because you wonder what you’ve done to the person or people who make the decision when everyone you’ve worked with is very happy, he says to the evening newspaper about the farewell to Postnord.
– I had a great time at Posten, above all thanks to the employees and the camaraderie. I loved going to work every day.
READ MORE: Magnus Wislander’s great tribute to Andreas Palicka – says exactly what everyone is thinking: “There is nothing left to say”
He is still managing financially, thanks to money saved from the successful handball career.
– It would probably work to do nothing in these last years before retirement, but then you can’t live like Camilla (the wife) and I do, with, for example, two apartments, admits Slangen in the interview.
Share the article to congratulate Magnus Wislander on his 60th birthday! 🎉
Sign up for our newsletter
Share