Who's Who
EDWARD FREEDMAN
NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF ICONS SHOP LIMITED
Job Role: Edward brings his vast retail and football knowledge to the Icons operation and is involved in all the major deals, initiatives and decisions.
Background: Edward has over 40 years of experience in the retail industry and in the late 1980s was Managing Director of Tottenham Hotspur. He then moved to Manchester United and became Managing Director of Manchester United Merchandising from 1992 onwards. Over the next six years he transformed the commercial side of the club's operation and built Manchester United into the biggest brand in world football. He was also a key player in the formation of the Premier League and was hailed by The Economist as "football's merchandising guru".
Team: Manchester United
Favourite current player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Favourite ever players: Pele, Johan Cruyff, Eric Cantona
Greatest player ever seen live: "Pele at the 1966 World Cup when Portugal kicked him off the Goodison Park pitch."
Favourite footballing moment: "It has to be England winning the World Cup in 1966."
Playing record: "I played for London School Boys but eventually had to go on an actually earn a living."
Contact: Email: edward@icons.com
DAN JAMIESON
CEO OF ICONS SHOP LIMITED
Job Role: As Icons CEO, Dan runs the business day to day, overseeing the marketing and supply operations, negotiating third-party deals and planning the growth of the company.
Background: Graduating with an Economics degree from Cambridge University, Dan worked in media marketing for 13 years. He enjoyed stints at the Guardian & Observer newspapers, Channel 4, and was Head of Marketing for Capital Radio. He then worked at Zone, Icons' former parent company, for three years as a digital strategist, developing the plan for the Icons website re-launch in 2008.
Team: Growing up in the city in the glory years of the 1970s and 80s, it was inevitable that he would become a dedicated Liverpool fan.
Favourite current player: Luis Suarez
Favourite ever players: Diego Maradona, Ian Rush, Paul Gascoigne
Greatest player ever seen live: Kenny Dalglish
Favourite footballing moment: The 2005 UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul.
Playing record: Dan is player-chairman of Grantchester Road, a Sunday League football team entering its 14th season and is dreaming of a return to the top flight and a possible cup run.
Contact: Email: dan@icons.com
MIKE DAVIS
FINANCE DIRECTOR
Job Role: As Finance Director, Mike keeps an eye on the whole business both financially and operationally while looking to make improvements to efficiency and overall quality on a daily basis.
Background: Mike stopped playing football at 18-years-old and started working at a local aerospace company as a trainee accountant. "I have worked within the aerospace and manufacturing sectors for many years", Mike says, "and have been lucky enough to work across the USA and China, both setting up and growing businesses.
Team: Portsmouth FC.
Favourite ever players: Paul Scholes, Ronaldo Nazario, Zico
Greatest player ever seen live: Lionel Messi, George Best, Rivaldo
Favourite footballing moment: Being lucky enough to be present at the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Qatar.
Playing record: I was lucky enough to play football for both Portsmouth FC and Bournemouth at youth level with my two managers of mine being Alan Ball and Harry Redknapp!
Contact: +44 (0)7775 900721 or mike@icons.com
Mike Davis with Jack Grealish
BEN SOLEY
HEAD OF SALES
Job Role: As Head of Sales, Ben is responsible for delivering Icons' ranges to the football-loving world.
Background: Ben joined the Icons team fresh out of the University of Essex with a degree in Psychology. He also previously ran two radio shows and a weekly club night. The skills he gained in doing so – as well as his strong work ethic – help him in his current role, managing Icons' many official licenses with FIFA, UEFA, Messi and The FA.
Team: Liverpool. As a lad from London, Ben still manages to get to Anfield on a semi-regular basis. "There have been ups and downs," he says, referencing his trip to see the infamous slip from Steven Gerrard as well as the Reds' run to – and triumph at – the 2019 UEFA Champions League final.
Favourite current player: Luka Modric and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Favourite ever players: Robbie Fowler, Ronaldo Nazario and Roberto Carlos.
Greatest player ever seen live: Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Dennis Bergkamp.
Favourite footballing moment: "Undoubtedly Liverpool winning the UEFA Champions League in 2005. And, though it pains me to say it, Eric Cantona's iconic chip against Sunderland."
Playing record: Ben's finest hour came when he won an FA Cup final without a goalkeeper on Championship Manager 2011. In terms of actual playing record, Ben was awarded 'Player of the Day' and later the illustrious 'Player of the Week' at some of Queens Park Rangers' youth training sessions.
Contact: +44 (0)7380 118 110 or ben@icons.com
ALISTAIR HUNTER
SENIOR EDITOR OF ICONS.COM
Job Role: As Senior Editor of Icons.com, Alistair's main role is to create multimedia content for Icons.com, its social media channels and many other outputs. Alistair is also a crucial part of the Icons signing team, regularly travelling around the world to assist in conducting private signing sessions with the world's best footballers.
Background: Alistair graduated from the University of Sunderland with a degree in Sports Journalism in 2013. During his three years in the North East, Alistair was the Sports Editor of a campus magazine, Football Editor of a local sports news website and presenter of two community radio sports shows. Alistair has had work published by the Guardian, Independent, FourFourTwo and the UEFA Champions League’s official magazine, among various others.
Team: Born to a Glasgow Rangers-supporting father, Alistair is a dedicated follower of the Gers but his main passion is his local team, Cambridge United, where he has been a season ticket holder on-and-off since 2014. He is also mildly obsessive when it comes to his favourite NFL team: the San Francisco 49ers.
Favourite current player: "Without doubt, the magnificent Lionel Messi. Or his English equivalent, Cambridge United's Harrison Dunk."
Favourite ever players: Johan Cruyff, Roberto Baggio, Ally McCoist and George Kittle.
Greatest players ever seen live: Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrick Mahomes and, lately, Jude Bellingham.
Favourite footballing moment: Seeing his beloved U's win a Non League double at Wembley in one glorious season, culminating in a play-off final victory that ended a nine-year exile from the Football League.
Playing record: A once-promising goal-hanger for his local Cambridgeshire Mini League team, Alistair now prefers to manage, and took his 2014 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Football team to the nosebleed heights of 7th out of over 250,000 entrants.
Contact: Email: alistair@icons.com
Alistair Hunter with Andrés Iniesta
WILL FRANKLIN
VIP SALES MANAGER
Job Role: Will's primary role is in the Sales department. After gaining a few years of experience in the B2B sector, he established Icons VIP Club, which is dedicated to providing Icons' best and most loyal customers with a highly tailored experience. His expertise includes curating unique, one-of-a-kind items, such as personalised shirt opportunities and sourcing specific match-worn pieces across all sports. Additionally, he is an integral part of our signing department, regularly traveling worldwide to conduct private signing sessions with our Icons.
Background: Will studied Sports, Psychology and Biology before a stint working in the insurance industry. He's an avid traveller, having visited Bali, Sri Lanka, Australia, USA, and South America.
Team: Aston Villa
Favourite current player: Emi Martínez
Favourite ever players: Steven Gerrard & Diego Maradona
Greatest players ever seen live: ''Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar - an unforgettable experience.''
Favourite footballing moment: "Being at Wembley in 2019 and hearing the final whistle confirm Villa's return to the Premier League after a three-year hiatus from the topflight."
Playing record: "I currently play for a Bournemouth Football League side, who won the league and cup double last season!"
Contact: +44 (0) 7594 651382 or will@icons.com
Will Franklin with Roberto Carlos
ALFIE HUSSEY
CUSTOMER SERVICES MANAGER
Job Role: As Customer Services Manager, Alfie's day to day role includes ensuring the Customer Service Team have the resources and support required to do their job. This includes supporting our customers via all available communication channels and ensuring the dispatch of both retail & wholesale orders run smoothly. Alfie also manages the relationship with our current courier, DHL. This involves ensuring DHL are providing our customers with the highest quality & most efficient shipping, worldwide.
Background: After completing A Levels in Sport, History, English & Psychology, Alfie moved into the digital remote care industry. This is where the passion for helping people was solidified. After 6 internal promotions in 8 years, Alfie was managing a Customer Service team of over 50 Staff. In April 2023 Alfie's dream job came to fruition at Icons, when the love for sport & passion for customer support perfectly aligned with Icons'.
Team: I'm one of those annoying people that dont support a specific team - However was always brought up watching Southampton FC at St.Mary's!
Favourite ever footballers or sportspeople: Cristiano Ronaldo - I used to stay up late as a kid to watch Match of the day, just to see Ronaldo play in the Premier league, I'd then set my alarm for the morning showing of MOTD so I could watch him all over again.
Greatest players ever seen live: Personally as a big cricket fan, watching Johnny Bairstow smash 141* off 114 balls at the Rose Bowl in 2017 was mind blowing to see!
Favourite footballing moment: Just as a fan of football, seeing Messi lift the World Cup in 2022 was a special moment. I love both CR7 & Messi and feel we should count ourselves lucky we've been able to witness them both.
Contact: +44 (0)20 3904 7600 or alfie@icons.com
Alfie Hussey with Luka Modrić
DAN RUSHTON
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Job Role: Dan's main role at the company is in the processing and dispatching of retail orders while dealing with customer queries and developing positive and trustworthy relationships with buyers. Additionally, Dan works on the Icons.com blog, writing news and blogs for the many signings he attends.
Background: Dan studied Public Relations at Open Study College whilst working for a PR firm in Brighton. He worked in the live events industry, dealing with lighting design, video mapping and stage design for live shows. After moving to Bournemouth, Dan worked as a freelance journalist, interviewing many local writers, influencers and musicians, as well as appearing on several podcasts. Dan simultaneously working for DPD before making the switch to Icons.
Team: Birmingham City
Favourite ever footballers or sportspeople: Cristiano Ronaldo, Jude Bellingham, Lionel Messi, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Juninho Bacuna, Trevor Francis, Mikael Forssell, Nikola Zigic
Greatest players ever seen live: Jude Bellingham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Martin Odegaard and Kevin De Bruyne
Favourite footballing moment: "It has to be the League Cup Final at Wembley in 2011, at which Birmimgham defied the odds and beat a very complacent Arsenal team 2-1. It's a day I will never forget (more because, as a Blues fan, every day since has been very forgettable)."
Playing record: "The highest level I played was Sunday League. I am now semi-retired but still grace the green (artificial) grass while playing for the Icons six-a-side team."
Contact: dr@icons.com
Dan Rushton with Eric Cantona