Family business: Daughter of Portsmouth Hall of Famer and ex-Ipswich and Charlton favourite faces England
The daughter of the 2008 FA Cup winner has three international caps for Iceland
Football remains a family business for one Pompey Hall of famer, whose offspring has lined up in an international against England.
Ida Marín Hermannsdottir started Iceland’s 2-0 defeat to England in a Women’s World Cup qualifier on Saturday.
And also in attendance at Nottingham Forest for the occasion was her proud father Hermann Hreidarsson.
Perhaps it was fated that Ida would become a professional footballer, considering both of the 23-year-old’s parents represented Iceland with distinction.
Father was a 2008 FA Cup winner with Portsmouth
Hreidarsson won the FA Cup with Pompey in 2008 and made 89 international appearances in a career which also saw him serve Ipswich, Charlton, Crystal Palace, Brentford and Coventry.
While her mother, Ragna Loa Stefansdottir, featured 36 times for Iceland, scoring twice, before being forced to retire through injury in 1999.
Saturday’s fixture against England represented Hermannsdottir’s third international outing, having last week also started in a 3-0 defeat to Spain.
The talented midfielder represents Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjaroar (FH), a club based in a harbour town near Reykjavik who compete in the top tier of women’s football in Iceland.
Born in England during Hreidarsson’s time with Ipswich, she lined-up against Sarina Wiegman’s Three Lions side in Saturday’s Group 3 fixture on the road to the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
2-0 defeat to England Women
Lucy Bronze and Georgina Stanway were the scorers in England’s 2-0 success, which sees them top a group which also contains Spain and Ukraine, albeit after just two matches.
Hermannsdottir was replaced in the 63rd minute at a time when the scoreline was 1-0, with her dad among the 27,474 crowd at the City Ground.
Hreidarsson’s own playing career saw him inducted in the Hall of Fames at both Ipswich and Pompey in recognition of his outstanding contributions, mainly in the Premier League.
A hugely popular character who largely operated as a swash-buckling, competitive left-back, he made 123 appearances for the Blues, scoring eight times, and was one of Harry Redknapp’s 2008 FA Cup winners.
Arriving on a free transfer from Charlton in the summer of 2007, Hreidarsson spent four full seasons at Fratton Park before leaving in January 2012 for Coventry.
‘I spent the best time of my career here’
He returned to the south coast in April 2024 to take his place in Pompey’s Hall of Fame, becoming only the second member of the FA Cup-winning side to do so, behind David James.
At the time he told The News: ‘I feel so grateful, humble and thankful - I spent the best time of my football career here.
‘The people of this football club brought me here because they understand my character, they appreciated what I bring, and I went on to have a great relationship with the fans.
‘Obviously I have been waiting for the Hall of Fame phone call for years! But seriously, I am so grateful. I genuinely gave everything to this club and it’s nice to receive this.
‘Towards the end, we had some really tough times, testing times, and after I left Pompey I always wanted to help, that’s why I brought my Icelandic team over.
‘For me it was important to give something back, so helping raise funds for the club after the fans took over was close to my heart. It was the least I could do.
‘I had the best of times here at Pompey - my connection with the club is there for life.’