When Rebecca Knaak’s stoppage-time winner soared into Liverpool’s net on Sunday, ensuring Manchester City had one hand on the Women’s Super League title, manager Andree Jeglertz’s mask finally slipped. Captain Alex Greenwood leaped into his arms, and the usually composed Swedish boss could no longer hold back his excitement and relief.
That moment marked an early celebration of their first WSL championship in a decade, which became official three days later when Arsenal failed to beat Brighton. As the title was secured, Jeglertz called Greenwood over, smiled, and said, “We did it.”
Understated as ever, the former trainee teacher has never been one to get carried away. Growing up in Malmö, a city in southern Sweden, he played street football and lived next door to an Englishman who encouraged him to watch the Premier League. He joined a football club at age five, and his obsession with sport set him apart from his younger brother.
Jeglertz watched local side Malmö with his father and was in the Munich stands when they lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest in the 1979 European Cup final. “My dad is a big football fan,” he says. “We went to games every weekend. It’s always been a part of my life.”
He played professionally for Malmö and earned three caps for Sweden Under-21s, but soon realized he would not reach the top. Turning to education, he studied to become a teacher, following his “curiosity to get to know people.” Coaching felt natural: “I was interested in the game and was always captain or had a leading role.”
Outside football, Jeglertz is a devoted father, married to former footballer Ulrika, with two children: Cornelia and Adam. When Cornelia was a baby, the family moved to Umeå in eastern Sweden, where Jeglertz took on his first major managerial role. There, he won the Champions League in 2004 with a squad that included Brazil legend Marta.
His career later took the family to Stockholm as he coached Djurgårdens, then became head coach of Finland and later Denmark. Daughter Cornelia says, “He’s still only my dad — not the famous coach he is to others. To me, he’s a caring and present father, even though we have lived in different countries.”
