Bartosz Piotr Grzelak (born 2 November 1978) is a Swedish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager. He is also a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Playing career

Grzelak made his sole

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

appearance for AIK on 26 October 1997 in a 1997 Allsvenskan game against

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

when he replaced

Johan Mjällby Karl Johan Siward Mjällby (; born 9 February 1971) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player who played as a centre-back. He represented AIK, Celtic, and Levante during a career that spanned between 1989 and 2006. A full i ...

in the last couple of minutes of the game. He was also a Sweden U19 international, appearing in seven games in 1996.

Managerial career

In 2009 Grzelak became playing assistant manager of the small suburban Stockholm club

IK Frej IK Frej is a Swedish sports club located in Täby kyrkby. It currently plays in Division 3, the fifth tier in Swedish football. Background IK Frej was founded 5 February 1968 by Åke Berghagen and his friends. Today, IK Frej has more than 120 ...

when they played in division 2 (fourth tier). He became head coach and sporting director for the club in 2012 when the club was playing in Division 1 Norra (third tier). In 2014, Frej won promotion to Superettan for the first time in club history. The team finished 14th in their debut season (2015) but retained their place after winning the relegation play-offs. In 2016, IK Frej finished in 10th place — their best-ever league finish. Grzelak left the club in the summer of 2017 to join AIK’s coaching staff. In June 2017 he joined as assistant manager to

Rikard Norling Rikard Olof Norling (; born 4 June 1971) is a Swedish football manager. Forced to retire early from his professional playing career due to an injury, Rikard Norling started a coaching career at the age of 22. In his early managerial career, Nor ...

side AIK. The team finished second behind Malmö FF in the 2017 Allsvenskan. In the 2018 season, AIK won the league, becoming Swedish champions for the 12th time. In December 2018 he was appointed as assistant manager to the

Sweden national under-21 football team The Sweden national under-21 football team is the Association football, football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-21 year old players and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association. Primarily, it competes to qualify for ...

. In July 2020 he was appointed as AIK's new head coach, following the dismissal of Norling. At the time, the team was in 12th place in Allsvenskan. After a strong second half of the season, AIK finished in 9th place. In the 2021 season, AIK finished second, level on points with Malmö FF, who won the title on goal difference. In August 2022, Grzelak was dismissed as the head coach of AIK after a string of poor performances in August, including a 3-0 defeat away against 1. FC Slovácko in the

2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League was the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. It was won ...

play-off round, as well as a 1-0 defeat against

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar, Sweden. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1 ...

and a 2-2 draw against

IFK Värnamo IFK Värnamo is a Swedish professional Association football, football club located in Värnamo. The club plays in the Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. The most famous player from the club is Jonas Thern, who was captain of the Swede ...

. At the time, AIK were in 5th place in Allsvenskan.

Fehérvár

In March 2023, Grzelak became the head coach of the Hungarian side Fehérvár. With ten games left in the 2022–23 season and the club sitting in the relegation zone, Grzelak led the team to safety. In the 2023–24 season, Fehérvár finished fourth in the league, securing qualification for the UEFA Conference League.

Újpest

On 14 June 2024 he was appointed as the manager of

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

. He debuted with a 2-1 defeat against

Puskás Akadémia FC Puskás Akadémia Football Club is a professional football club based in Felcsút, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hungarian football. Puskás Akadémia have spent ten seasons in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, t ...

in the first round of the

2024–25 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2024–25 Nemzeti Bajnokság I (also known as 2024–25 OTP Bank Liga), also known as NB I, will be the 126th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league was officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. The fixtures were a ...

at the

Szusza Ferenc Stadion Szusza Ferenc Stadion (formerly known as Megyeri úti Stadion or simply Megyeri út) is a football stadium in Újpest and the home of Újpest FC. The stadium was designed by Alfréd Hajós and opened on 17 September 1922. The stadium was renovat ...

. After a disappointing start to the spring phase of the 2025 season, the club announced on 3 May 2025 that he had left his position by mutual consent.

Personal life

Grzelak was born in

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, to Polish parents before moving to Sweden at the age of four.

Managerial statistics

¹ Only competitive matches are counted.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grzelak, Bartosz 1978 births Living people Footballers from Szczecin Polish men's footballers Polish football managers Swedish men's footballers Swedish football managers IF Brommapojkarna players AIK Fotboll managers AIK Fotboll non-playing staff Fehérvár FC managers Men's association football midfielders Allsvenskan managers Nemzeti Bajnokság I managers Swedish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Hungary Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Polish emigrants to Sweden Polish expatriate football managers Allsvenskan players