Lars Friis
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 7 May 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Feldborg, Denmark | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sparta Prague (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Feldborg/Haderup IF | |||
| Aulum IF | |||
| Ikast FS | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1999 | Feldborg/Haderup IF | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021–2022 | Viborg | ||
| 2022 | AaB | ||
| 2024– | Sparta Prague | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Lars Friis (born 7 May 1976) is a Danish football manager who is manager of Czech First League club Sparta Prague.
Playing career
[edit]Lars Friis was born on 7 May 1976 in Feldborg, Denmark. He started playing youth football for local club, Feldborg-Haderup IF. Known for his technical ability and dedication, he often played as a centre-back or midfielder, despite not being particularly fast or physically imposing.[1]
After a year at a nearby efterskole, where he played for Aulum IF, Friis joined Ikast FS, competing at the top youth levels before the formation of Midtjylland.[1]
He later returned to FHIF to start his senior career but was forced to retire at age 23 due to a cruciate ligament injury.[1]
Coaching career
[edit]Friis began his coaching career in 1999 at Midtjylland, where he was until 2015, when he also left the club shortly after Glen Riddersholm's departure.[2] Soon after, he accompanied Riddersholm to AGF as an assistant. In the spring of 2018, he was offered to join Brentford as a development coach, [3] but after a year he returned to AGF as an assistant, now for David Nielsen.[4]
Managerial career
[edit]In January 2021, he took up his first head coaching position when he joined Viborg.[5]
In January 2022 he was signed by AaB, but was unable to get out of his contract with Viborg until AaB in March 2022 paid compensation, which meant that Friis started as AaB manager on 9 March 2022.[6] Following a poor start to the 2022–23 Danish Superliga season Friis was sacked by AaB on 15 September 2022.[7] On 16 December 2022, Friis was hired as an assistant coach to Sparta Prague manager Brian Priske.[8] On 12 June 2024, Friis was appointed as the manager of Sparta Prague, replacing Priske, who became the manager of Feyenoord.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Hansen, Jørgen (20 December 2022). "Superligatræneren fra Feldborg". Dansk Træner Union (in Danish). Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ "FCM assistant stops at the turn of the year". bold.dk (in Danish). 26 July 2015.
- ^ Tøfting, Nicolai (3 January 2018). "Lars Friis is the new development coach at Brentford". bold.dk (in Danish).
- ^ Schmidt, Martin (24 July 2019). "AGF brings Lars Friis home as an assistant". bold.dk (in Danish).
- ^ "Lars Friis is the new head coach of VFF". Viborg FF (in Danish). 16 January 2021.
- ^ Nelausen, Raymund (8 March 2022). "AaB bekræfter: Lars Friis starter onsdag". bold.dk (in Danish).
- ^ Margren, Sara (15 September 2022). "Bombe: AaB fyrer Lars Friis". bold.dk (in Danish).
- ^ "Sparta má nového asistenta. Přináší lidský aspekt, vítá ho Priske". Blesk (in Czech). Czech News Center. Czech News Agency. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- ^ Lizec, Jiří (12 June 2024). "Potvrzeno. Priske míří do Feyenoordu. Spartu přebírá osvědčené jméno". Sport.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- 1976 births
- Living people
- People from Herning Municipality
- Footballers from the Central Denmark Region
- Danish football managers
- Danish Superliga managers
- Czech First League managers
- Aarhus Gymnastikforening non-playing staff
- Brentford F.C. non-playing staff
- Viborg FF managers
- AaB Fodbold managers
- AC Sparta Prague managers
- Danish expatriate football managers
- Danish expatriate sportspeople in England
- Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic
- Expatriate football managers in the Czech Republic