Lars Friis

Lars Friis

Personal information
Date of birth	(1976-05-07) 7 May 1976 (age 49)
Place of birth	Feldborg, Denmark
Youth career
	Feldborg/Haderup IF
	Aulum IF
	Ikast FS
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
0000–1999	Feldborg/Haderup IF
Managerial career
2021–2022	Viborg
2022	AaB
2024–2025	Sparta Prague
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lars Friis (born 7 May 1976) is a Danish football manager.

Playing career

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

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

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 until compensation was paid to Viborg by AaB. He officially became 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] On 15 May 2025, one day after a 1–3 loss in the Czech Cup final against Sigma Olomouc, Friis was sacked as head coach with team on the 4th place in the league table and four losses in a row. ^[10]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 14 May 2025

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Viborg		16 January 2021	8 March 2022	34	17	10	7	65	37	+28	050.00
AaB		9 March 2022	15 September 2022	22	6	4	12	27	36	−9	027.27
Sparta Prague		1 July 2024	15 May 2025	51	28	7	16	89	70	+19	054.90
Total				107	51	21	35	181	143	+38	047.66

References

1. 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.
2. "FCM assistant stops at the turn of the year". bold.dk (in Danish). 26 July 2015.
3. Tøfting, Nicolai (3 January 2018). "Lars Friis is the new development coach at Brentford". bold.dk (in Danish).
4. Schmidt, Martin (24 July 2019). "AGF brings Lars Friis home as an assistant". bold.dk (in Danish).
5. "Lars Friis is the new head coach of VFF". Viborg FF (in Danish). 16 January 2021.
6. Nelausen, Raymund (8 March 2022). "AaB bekræfter: Lars Friis starter onsdag". bold.dk (in Danish).
7. Margren, Sara (15 September 2022). "Bombe: AaB fyrer Lars Friis". bold.dk (in Danish).
8. "Sparta má nového asistenta. Přináší lidský aspekt, vítá ho Priske". Blesk (in Czech). Czech News Center. Czech News Agency . Retrieved 16 December 2022.
9. Lizec, Jiří (12 June 2024). "Potvrzeno. Priske míří do Feyenoordu. Spartu přebírá osvědčené jméno". Sport.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
10. Čihák, Jiří (15 May 2025). "Friis ve Spartě skončil, tým přebírá Loučka. Nemohli jsme už dál čekat, zní z klubu". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra . Retrieved 15 May 2025.