Iceland Euro 2016 Kit Q&A With Erreà : Interviews : Soccer Bible

A population of 300,000, a part-time dentist manager, a film director goalkeeper and a Quarter Final – The undisputed people's champions of Euro 2016 were undeniably, Iceland. Against all odds this tiny frozen nation won their group, won their last sixteen game against England and won the hearts of the footballing community. Not grown a beard and stuck a 'son' on the end of your name yet? Why not?

Iceland’s fearless approach and mental strength ensured they left France as legends. That tribal wall of blue that clapped their heroes out of the Stade de France one last time are backed by Italian sportswear brand Erreà, the loyal underdogs that have supported the Iceland National Team since 2002. Fast forward fourteen years and the brand are sharing the rewards with their Icelandic friends, as Fabrizio Taddei, Export Manager for Erreà tells us.

Fabrizio, Iceland were the only team at the Euros to fly the Erreà flag. What were your expectations before the tournament?

"After seeing the draw for the groups we thought that a passage to the last 16 was going to be difficult, but we were already over the moon with the qualification so we were proud to be involved. Qualification was a historical moment for Iceland and for us as well."

How did the relationship with Iceland begin?

"We've been selling Erreà Sport in Iceland since 1997. In 2002, together with our distributors we approached the Icelandic Federation and started working with them. In the last 14 years we have grown together, them as a Federation and team, us as a company. Not being one of the so called sports giant, I cannot approach Brasil, England, Italy etc. therefore I was looking for a different Federation that we could work with. In the past we have dealt with Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg and United Arab national teams (they went to London 2012 with the Olympic team). I have always admired the hard working attitude and commitment of Scandinavian countries. Their commitment and team spirit mirrors what we put day-in-day-out into our job, therefore for me, Iceland was a perfect match."



How has the Iceland performance at EURO 2016 affected shirt sales at Erreà?

"As you can imagine sales of the KSI shirt went through the roof, let’s just say we are very pleased! We noticed that during the week after beating England, suddenly everyone had taken notice of Iceland and Erreà. Iceland had already completed a miracle by just qualifying and almost qualifying in 2014 to World Cup but this week was incredible. We have had to work extra night shifts in the production department to meet the extra request of orders after they beat England."

Where have the majority of kit sales been from?

"Iceland is obviously number one, but other Scandinavian countries have been supporting them too. The UK (specifically Scotland), Holland, Germany, Austria, basically all over Europe. Some of the more unexpected countries were Greenland, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia."

Erreà shirts on every newspaper worldwide. How has it felt seeing that?

"It's been one of the busiest weeks in the life of the company and my life too. It's a great feeling, we are enjoying every second but we keep our feet on the ground and remain committed to our day-to-day job, serving our customers all over Europe. We have been contacted by media all over Europe and also rest of the world."

What was the general feel at Erreà during the tournament. Were you all supporting Iceland?

"We're an Italian company but everyone was supporting Iceland! We share the same blue as Italy, so it's like supporting two teams in one."



How much of a boost has the Iceland performance been to the Erreà brand?

"We're not sure just yet, I will be pleased to answer this question in a year time! For sure, we were able to start working with distributors that were not considering us before."

What was it like working with the Iceland Football Federation on the kit?

"It was a great team effort, players and staff of Iceland came over to Parma to work alongside our designers. I like to think that we have created a nice set of shirts and a nice range. Sport et Style (L’Equipe) voted the KSI shirt the best at EURO 2016, so we're happy with that! Iceland are very rightly proud of their identity, their culture and it's something you feel instantly when you are with them or when you travel to Iceland, they are the true descendants of the Vikings, they never give up. It has been a privilege and an honour for us to be partner of KSI since 2002. It shows how in football and in life you can reach result with hard work, commitment, team spirit."

What's the next step for Errea and Iceland? Any commemorative product in the works?

"That's still to be decided, this will be a joint decision together with our Icelandic distributor Sport Company. But first I'm off to Milan. Due to the Icelandic madness we've been invited to a TV sport show!"

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