| Lars Friis | |
| Birth Date: | 7 May 1976 |
| Birth Place: | Feldborg, Denmark |
| Currentclub: | Sparta Prague (manager) |
| Youthclubs1: | Feldborg/Haderup IF |
| Youthclubs2: | Aulum IF |
| Youthclubs3: | Ikast FS |
| Years1: | –1999 |
| Clubs1: | Feldborg/Haderup IF |
| Manageryears1: | 2021–2022 |
| Managerclubs1: | Viborg |
| Manageryears2: | 2022 |
| Managerclubs2: | AaB |
| Manageryears3: | 2024– |
| Managerclubs3: | Sparta Prague |
Lars Friis (born 7 May 1976) is a Danish football manager who is manager of Czech First League club Sparta Prague.
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.
He later returned to FHIF to start his senior career but was forced to retire at age 23 due to a cruciate ligament injury.
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]
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]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viborg | 16 January 2021 | 8 March 2022 | |||||||||
| AaB | 9 March 2022 | 15 September 2022 | |||||||||
| Sparta Prague | 1 July 2024 | Present | |||||||||
| Total | |||||||||||