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Hermann Hreidarsson interview: Iceland's amateur game to Premier League and FA Cup glory, he wants buzz again as coach

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, former FA Cup winner Hermann Hreidarsson shares memories of his time in England, his experiences coaching his daughters' team in Iceland, and why he hopes to continue his coaching career back in his 'second home'

Hermann Hreidarsson during his time with Portsmouth
Image: Hermann Hreidarsson was an FA Cup winner with Portsmouth and now wants to feel the buzz of coaching in England again

Hermann Hreidarsson still remembers the first Premier League game that he attended. Unlike thousands of others who experience that attack on the senses, he was kitted up and on the bench at the time, all nervous energy at the prospect of coming on.

"I had never even been to a game in England and here I was at Goodison Park," he tells Sky Sports. "I was in awe. I had the biggest smile on my face just enjoying the atmosphere. It was the noise of the crowd, the passion, the speed of the game. Everything around it."

Hreidarsson was an international in 1997 but the leap from Icelandic football was huge. "Not even semi-professional, just amateur football. A few had enough money to cover their clothes and stuff like that, but it was a completely different environment," he explains.

"I knew that I was behind in many aspects of the game, especially technically, so I just dedicated myself purely to football. I spent a lot of my time doing extra work in training to improve every week and make the most of an unbelievable opportunity."

He did not play for Crystal Palace at Everton that day. "It was good that I was on the bench, I will say that." But he made his first start against Wimbledon soon after. "Brilliant, the best game of my life at that point." It was one of 332 Premier League appearances.

He seized his chance.

"It is such a privilege to have played in the Premier League, amazing times." Back in Iceland with fiancée Alexandra, living with three young boys on the Westman Islands, his hope is that he is not yet done with the "second home" that is English football.

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He still coaches IBV, the island's premier club, having worked in men's and women's football in Iceland, as well as enjoying adventures in India and as the assistant manager to former Portsmouth team-mate Sol Campbell at both Macclesfield and Southend.

At 48, he is looking for a role that befits this vast knowledge and uses those lessons learned at Palace and Wimbledon, Ipswich and Charlton, and as an FA Cup winner with Pompey in 2008. There were relegations along the way but there were triumphs too.

"At Ipswich, we were expected to be fighting relegation but finished fifth with 66 points. We had no superstars but we had a work ethic and George Burley got the best out of us. We knew what we were doing, switching between three and four at the back.

"It worked against Manchester United early in the season. That was an eye-opener for us and made us believe we could do it against anyone." They did. Qualifying for Europe and going on to secure a famous draw with Inter at Portman Road. "Amazing nights."

Hermann Hreidarsson playing for Ipswich Town
Image: Hermann Hreidarsson played in Europe for George Burley's Ipswich Town team

Hreidarsson recently returned to Portsmouth as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations. It is that team that stands out more than any other in his career. "It was pound for pound, player for player, the best team that I ever played in," he says.

"We had Glen Johnson, Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin with me in defence and David James in goal so we kept a lot of clean sheets which is the backbone to any success. There were big characters in there. Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Niko Kranjcar, Sulley Muntari.

"We were after something that year. We wanted a trophy. So when we beat Manchester United, one of their strongest ever teams, in the quarter-final of the FA Cup, and Chelsea lost to Barnsley too, that was big. That was the moment we all looked at each other.

"We were favourites. It was ours to lose, if you like. We had the players to overcome the rest if we played to our best. It is not always as easy as that but we had strong heads, winners. To win that trophy was the definite highlight of my career by a mile."

Hreidarsson knows success but he knows tough times too. Portsmouth's slide down the league was more than one club's demise, it became a byword for Daedalian hubris. "You could see something was not right. As everyone knows, it was a disaster."

He later came close to returning to the club, offering to play for free in the third tier. "I had such a good bond with the fans and such an unbelievable time there that I was ready to lend a hand if there was anything I could do when it unravelled. I felt sad and helpless."

He is the product of all those experiences, the good and the bad. "Relegation is a horrible feeling. You learn to read the signs but it also helps you to understand the game, how important the dressing room is, how players react in adversity," he says.

"I have learned from all of it. Harry Redknapp was second to none in man-management, he made you feel like you were the best player in the world by a country mile. He sold the idea to you. Alan Curbishley was brilliant at sticking with his principles and what worked.

"George Burnley liked to play possession football. Steve Coppell gave me my chance at Crystal Palace and I did so many extra sessions there with Ray Lewington. These are people who lived and breathed football and I have so much to thank them for."

He took those lessons into his own coaching career, one that began with IBV in 2013, with David James as goalkeeper and assistant. "We had a great season with a very young team and thoroughly enjoyed it." At Fylkir, he coached the men - and then the women.

"I have two daughters who play football. They were young players in the team so it was great to coach them and a great opportunity because the women's game is growing. It was different but great to see their attitude and there are a lot of similarities too.

"My eldest daughter was probably one of the best players. Just to show the rest of the team there was no favouritism I took her out of the team for one game. She did not speak to me for three weeks so that went well! But they both enjoyed it in the end. I loved it."

That sums up his attitude to coaching. "It is my passion. It is my drug." He is proud of the work done alongside Campbell in trying circumstances. Now he is seeking the opportunity to strike out on his own, open-minded about what is next but eager for a chance.

"It is my fourth season now here in Iceland but I want to come back to England and manage in the home of football. That is what I am aiming to do. I feel after 10 years of coaching I am ready to take the step in a place where I know the game well. I want that buzz again."

Still chasing that feeling at Goodison Park all those years ago.

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