Magnusson 'captivated by football's magnetism'

Eggert Magnusson, the man behind the new takeover for West Ham, is so besotted by football that he does not let his 59 years of age prevent him playing several times a week.

Magnusson is wiry and fit, and is someone who has immersed himself in Icelandic and European football but who has always maintained a special love of London, and of the English game.

He is a successful businessman - he was the owner of two food manufacturing and import/export businesses in his home country, and is now a board member of two separate major Icelandic-based companies.

One of these is the international transport consortium Avion Group, which owns British low-cost airline Excel Airways among other firms, and the other is investment bank Straumur-Burdaras.

Magnusson has been the president of the Icelandic FA for the last 17 years, and has been on UEFA's executive committee since 2002. For five years, from 1984 to 1989, he was president of the club Valur Reykjavik.

He said recently: "Football has always been for me a wonderful opportunity to learn about life. Since my childhood, I have been immersed and captivated by football's magnetism. I have always had a passion for football and I still enjoy playing several times a week.

"It is a privilege to be involved in football every day of my life and I appreciate helping football grow and develop.

"London is my favourite city and I spend a lot of time there. It was perhaps the first city I visited when I was a young boy. It is a city where everybody speaks a language I can communicate in and English football is very popular in Nordic countries."