Behind The Scenes: Gudmundur Gislason

In this week's Behind the Scenes feature, we catch up with West Ham United's new Director of Retail and Merchandising, Gudmundur Gislason.

With the release of our brand new Umbro kit set for later this week and the relaunch of the online megastore already in place, it has certainly been a busy introduction for Gudmundur, who explains what his role at the Club entails: "I'm responsible for our Club stores and all the products and everything going on in that area.

"My aim is to introduce exciting new products to the fans and make our brand stronger within this business. We're working on making our identity stronger around the world also. There are a lot of opportunities for this Club. It's just a question of what we can do with our brand and how we develop it."

The Icelandic Director may be new to Upton Park, but football has always been his first love.

"I started to play football when I was four or five years-old in Iceland," he explains. "I got to a certain level in football, not a professional level, but I played against a few Clubs in Europe with my team in Iceland, for example Barcelona.

"That was a big thing for me. I've always loved football and it's always been a big part of my life. For me to come to West Ham it's a dream come true. In Iceland we don't have professional Clubs like in England. So, for me to join West Ham is a big thing and I hope I can do some big things here.

"I've never been involved in working for a football club before, apart from being on the pitch! It has been very good being here and the reason I'm here is because of the new ownership, the new beginning. There are a lot of new ideas coming up and I'm taking part in that, helping to build up the Club, making West Ham United a much stronger identity as we move forward."

And Gudmundur believes there are exciting times ahead for everyone associated with West Ham United.

"I came directly from Iceland where I was working for one of the biggest retailers," he says. "So, my background is retail and it's a very exciting business because it's always changing.

"No two days are the same in retail. There is always something new happening and that's very exciting. We can also put that element in the retail of West Ham United. There are many good things at the Club now in retail but we can improve.

"I think with the new ownership and the new management team and all of these great people working at West Ham United, there are a lot of great times about to happen."