Brian Priske Pedersen (; born 14 May 1977) is a Danish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

, who is the head coach of

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

club

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

. Priske played as a defender during his playing career. He played 24 matches for the

Denmark national football team The Denmark national football team ( or ''herrelandsholdet'') represents Denmark and Greenland in men's international Association football, football competitions. It is controlled by the Danish Football Association (DBU), the governing body for ...

from 2003 to 2007, and represented Denmark at

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

. As a manager, he started his career at

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

, winning the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

title before being appointed by Belgian club

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club (commonly referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Antwerp. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Founded in 1 ...

where he departed after one season and signed with Czech club Sparta Prague. After winning three trophies with the club, he was appointed by Dutch side

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

but was sacked after half a season in charge. In June 2025, he returned to Sparta Prague as manager.

Club career

Born in

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...

, Priske started his career for Danish club Stensballe, a Horsens suburb club. Still a youth, he moved to Horsens Forenede Sportsklubber (HFS), now called AC Horsens. He moved on to

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

in 1997, before settling at

AaB AAB, AaB or Aab may refer to: Aviation * Abelag Aviation in Belgium * Air Assault Badge, a United States Army military badge * Anti-aircraft battery, a weapons system component for anti-aircraft warfare * IATA airport code for Arrabury Airport ...

in 1999. There, he won the

championship in 1999, and captained the club at the end of his tenure. He moved to Belgian club

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

in the summer of 2003. When he played the full match in Denmark's 4–1 win over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 17 August 2005, Priske aroused the interest of several Premiership clubs, and he joined

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

five days later for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year deal. Priske was given a good run in the Portsmouth side by

Alain Perrin Alain André Christian Perrin (; born 7 October 1956) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. Perrin made his managerial breakthrough at Troyes AC, Troyes, whom he took from t ...

, but after Perrin was sacked that November, Priske was dropped by returning manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

. Many Portsmouth supporters assumed that this was because of Redknapp's disdain of using players he himself had not purchased, and speculation was rife in the January transfer window that Priske would be leaving the club. A move away from

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a association football, football ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and is the home of Portsmouth F.C., Portsmouth Football Club. Fratton Park's location on Portsea Island is unique in English professional football, as it ...

never materialized, however, and following Portsmouth's poor run of form and injuries to several defenders, Priske was returned to the side for match against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on 11 March. Priske was from then an ever-present as Portsmouth then went on an excellent run of form for their final ten matches of the season, earning the club Premiership survival for another year. Since arriving from Genk, Priske had been a popular player amongst Portsmouth supporters. Many were originally unhappy that Priske had been frozen-out of the team with Redknapp's return, and felt justified in their valuation of the player after the impressive role he played in earning the club survival from

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. Priske had become a fan favourite since his arrival at Fratton Park as a result of his impressive form, but in spite of this, rumours of his departure from the south coast resurfaced during the 2006–07 pre-season. Priske revealed to the Danish media that he had been told to find a new club before the start of the next season before returning to Belgium, joining

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

in August 2006. The news was met with confusion and anger among Portsmouth fans. In Bruges, Priske competed with fan favourites

Olivier De Cock Olivier De Cock (born 9 November 1975) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He is manager of the reserve team of R. Knokke FC. Club career De Cock was born in Eeklo. He joined Club Brugge in 1987. In 1995, he ...

and Birger Maertens for a place in the starting line-up. Priske became a first team regular, and helped the team win the 2007

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

. In the summer of 2008, Priske returned to the Danish Superliga to play for

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality (''Municipalities of De ...

. He could not save the club from relegation to the

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...

in 2009, but stayed with the team. In the summer of 2010, he was loaned out to Superliga club

. On 21 January 2011, he signed for

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

International career

While at AaB, Priske made his debut for the Danish national team in February 2003. He was a part of the Danish squad at the

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

, and played 14 minutes in the 0–0 group game with

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, coming on as a substitute to replace

Christian Poulsen Christian Bjørnshøj Poulsen (; born 28 February 1980) is a Danish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. After starting his career with Holbæk, he played for a number of European clubs, winning the Danish Superliga champion ...

. Following retirement and injuries in the Danish defense, Priske became a more consistent member of the national team. In the 2006 World Cup qualification stage he played 10 out of 12 matches, though Denmark did not qualify for the finals. He played one game in the

UEFA Euro 2008 qualification Qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 finals tournament took place between August 2006 and November 2007. Fifty teams were divided into seven groups. In a double round-robin system, each team played against each of the others in their group on a hom ...

, a 1–2 loss to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in November 2007, after which he was dropped from the national team.

Managerial career

Midtjylland

Priske served as assistant of

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

from 2011 to 2019. When Kenneth Andersen resigned as manager of Midtjylland on 19 August 2019, Priske succeeded him. At first, he was a caretaker manager for eleven games, until he got promoted to a head coach. In his first campaign as a head coach in the 2019–20 season, Priske and Midtjylland won the Danish Championship 14 points ahead of second place Copenhagen, despite only having half of their budget. By winning the championship, Priske and Midtjylland had to play three rounds of UEFA Champions League qualification matches to get to the Champions league group stages. They beat

Ludogorets Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League, ...

1–0, Young Boys 3–0 and then on 30 September 2020 they beat

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

4–1.

Royal Antwerp

On 29 May 2021, Priske signed a new contract for two seasons with

Sparta Prague

On 31 May 2022, Priske was named the new head coach of

. On 23 May 2023, Sparta Prague drew 0–0 with

Slovácko Moravian Slovakia, also called Slovácko (, older ''Moravské Slovensko'') is a cultural region in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic. It lies in the historical region of Moravia, on the border with Slovakia (the Slovak region of Záhor ...

to clinch their first

title in nine years. They also reached the final of the Czech cup that season. Priske became the first foreign manager to win the Czech league (excluding Slovaks

Jozef Jarabinský Jozef Jarabinský (born 12 March 1944) is a Czechoslovak former football player and manager He played for Slovan Bratislava, Bohemians, Dukla Prague and Sparta Prague. As a football manager he coached Vagónka Poprad, Tatran Prešov, Sparta ...

and

Jozef Chovanec Jozef Chovanec (born 7 March 1960) is a former professional footballer and manager. He took part in two major tournaments: the 1990 FIFA World Cup as a player for Czechoslovakia and UEFA Euro 2000 as manager of the Czech Republic. Career As a fo ...

). He was chosen as manager of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season by the League Football Association (LFA). On 20 October 2023, Priske extended his contract with Sparta Prague until 2026. On 14 December 2023, Priske and AC Sparta Prague qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League after beating

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a professional Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the A ...

3–1 and finishing second in a group also featuring

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. After advancing past

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

in the knockout stages (6–4 on aggregate), they were knocked out by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the Round of 16 (2–11 on aggregate). On 18 May 2024, Sparta Prague won 5–0 at

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...

to clinch the Czech First League title for the second time in two years. Sparta also won

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 1961. The winner ...

. Priske was chosen as the manager of the 2023–24 season by League Football Association (LFA).

Feyenoord

On 12 June 2024, Dutch club

announced that it had signed Priske as the club's new head coach on a three-year contract. In Priske's first official game as Feyenoord head coach on 4 August 2024, Feyenoord beat

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

on penalties after a 4–4 draw to win the

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

. Priske initially implemented a 3–4–3 formation, but changed that to a 4–3–3 formation after criticism and a 1–1 draw in the first league game against promoted side Willem II. However, in September 2024, Feyenoord continued to drop points and suffered a 0–4 defeat against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. In October 2024, Feyenoord won away games against

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

and Benfica in the Champions League and beat

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

and

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

, before losing

De Klassieker De Klassieker (''The Classic'') is the main football rivalry of the Netherlands, between AFC Ajax, Ajax (of Amsterdam) and Feyenoord (of Rotterdam). The record attendance was on 9 January 1966, when 65,562 watched in Rotterdam. History The ri ...

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. In the remainder of 2024, Feyenoord won five of their seven games in the Eredivisie and came back from 3–0 down to draw 3–3 against

and beat Priske's former club

in the Champions League. After Feyenoord started 2025 with a defeat against Utrecht and a draw against Willem II, there were rumours Priske would leave the club after the home game against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

in the Champions League. However, after Feyenoord won that game 3–0 to qualify for the

knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

, he remained Feyenoord's head coach. In the following weeks, Feyenoord suffered their largest-ever Champions League defeat against

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

(6–1), lost away to Ajax in the Eredivisie and were knocked out in the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

quarter-finals by PSV Eindhoven. On 10 February 2025, two days after a 3–0 win in the

Rotterdam derby The term Rotterdam derby () refers to the local derbies in Rotterdam played between two of the three professional football clubs Feyenoord, Sparta Rotterdam or Excelsior. It specifically refers to individual matches between the clubs, but can also ...

against

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

, Priske was sacked as head coach following "inconsistent results and a lack progress".

Sparta Prague

On 8 June 2025, Priske was appointed again as Sparta Prague manager, signed a multi-year contract.

Personal life

His son August Priske is also a professional footballer.

Honours

Player

AaB *

: 1998–99 Club Brugge *

: 2007

Manager

Midtjylland *

: 2019–20 Sparta Prague *

, 2023–24 *

: 2023–24 Feyenoord *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

FC Midtjylland profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Priske, Brian 1977 births Living people Footballers from Horsens Men's association football defenders Danish men's footballers Vejle Boldklub players AC Horsens players Aarhus Fremad players AaB Fodbold players K.R.C. Genk players Portsmouth F.C. players Club Brugge KV players FC Midtjylland players IK Start players Danish Superliga players Belgian Pro League players Premier League players Eliteserien players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium UEFA Euro 2004 players Denmark men's international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Danish expatriate men's footballers FC Midtjylland managers Royal Antwerp F.C. managers Danish football managers Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Belgium Danish Superliga managers AC Sparta Prague managers Czech First League managers Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Expatriate football managers in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Danish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Feyenoord managers Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands