Unmasking the coach who led Man City to WSL title glory

Unmasking the coach who led Man City to WSL title glory Image source, Getty ImagesByEmma SandersBBC Sport women’s football news reporterWhen Rebecca Knaak's stoppage-time winner flew into Liverpool's net on Sunday, ensuring Manchester City had one hand on the Women's Super League title, manager Andree Jeglertz's mask slipped. Captain Alex Greenwood leapt into his arms and the usually cool Swedish boss could no longer contain his excitement and relief. It was an early celebration of their first WSL title in a decade, which arrived three days later when Arsenal failed to beat Brighton. When City's success was confirmed and the celebrations began in a room at the Joie Stadium where the team had been watching the match, Jeglertz called Greenwood over, smiled and said: "We did it." It was understated - but ever since he was a young football fan watching Swedish side Malmo, the former trainee school teacher has never been one to get carried away. Figure caption, Watch the moment Manchester City win the league... Growing up in Malmo, a city in southern Sweden, he played street football with other kids and lived next door to an Englishman who encouraged him to watch the Premier League on TV. Like most children in that region, Jeglertz was in a football club by the age of five, and in that "safe environment" he grew up obsessed with sport, unlike his younger brother. "[He] wasn't competitive - he played football but he didn't have that big interest in it like I had," Jeglertz says. "I always wanted to train a lot and have always been a very determined person. I thought: 'I want to be on this level, I want to reach this.' "I wanted training to be a proper format, not just to do things randomly - I've never been good in that. It has to be with some structure. It's still like that." The 54-year-old watched local team Malmo 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 played when he was younger so we went to a lot of games in my hometown," he says. "I remember watching games in the stadium and we went every weekend. It's always been a part of my life." When Jeglertz became a professional he played for Malmo, but soon realised he would not make it to the top, despite earning three caps for Sweden Under-21s. It was then that he began studying to become a teacher, taking after his mother and following his "curiosity to get to know people". "When I realised I was not going to be as good as I had hoped for, that was tough - but I really loved the sport," he adds. "I educated myself as a teacher. I really loved the relationship between people and wanted to combine that, so continue working inside football and with people. "Coaching was quite natural to go into. I was interested in the game already and I was always captain or had a leading role." Outside of football, Jeglertz is a devoted father. He married former footballer Ulrika and they have two children - daughter Cornelia and a son, Adam. When Cornelia was a baby, the Jeglertz family moved to Umea in eastern Sweden and into a small neighbourhood two miles outside the main city. It was where Jeglertz took on his first major managerial role, going on to win the Champions League in 2004 with a squad that included Brazil legend Marta. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Andree Jeglertz won the Women's Champions League with Umea in 2004 and lost the final to Arsenal in 2007 His work took the family to Stockholm five years later as Jeglertz took over at Djurgardens, before becoming Finland's head coach, and later Denmark's. "He's still only my dad - he's not the famous coach that he is to other people," says daughter Cornelia. "To me, he's a very caring and a very present dad, even though we have lived in different countries and cities for many years. "He's very interested in me and my friends. I think it's a privilege that we have been able to follow him around, see his accomplishments and see the world." Before sitting down for his interview with BBC Sport, Jeglertz says he saw his family a week before. They travelled to Manchester and had dinner in the Ancoats area. It has become a frequent spot for the curry-loving Jeglertz, who has also taken classes to study wine culture and its relationship with food. Friend Lars-Gunnar Skoog, a fitness coach who worked with Jeglertz for 10 years, still keeps in touch with him and describes him as "very sociable". "He has a terrible taste in music - he doesn't know who Taylor Swift is. He only knows really old artists," Skoog jokes. "He takes care of his family but when he is home, he still likes to train. We do running and strength training together. "When we were at Umea, we went to Turkey every year for pre-season training. All the coaches would run together at 7am. I told him we had to run slower but he would push everyone and we all got injured. We blamed him! "But we had lots of good memorie

Unmasking the coach who led Man City to WSL title glory

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Unmasking the coach who led Man City to WSL title glory

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