Who is Will Still? From Football Manager addict to Ligue 1 Managerial Powerhouse | OneFootball

Will Still is currently living every Football Manager player's dream. He learned his trade from the game and is now actually at the helm of one of France's largest clubs in Reims, and has completely transformed their side into genuine European spot contenders in Ligue 1.

The north-eastern French team are unbeaten in the country's top flight since Still initially took temporary charge in October, which is a remarkable run of 16 games, including two draws with the powerhouses of Paris Saint Germain.

He's doing wonders for his players. He even has Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun firing on all cylinders, the young French forward struggled with life in the Premier League, but he's a sensation under Still - cementing himself as one of the top goalscorers in the league.

So just who is Will Still? He's making a real name for himself and should be a top manager for years to come. Here's everything you need to know about him.

Who is Will Still?

Career History

Still was born in the Belgian town of Braine-l'Alleud, after his father moved there to work for Shell. He had a deep passion for football and has been a lifelong West Ham United supporter, which dictated his career path. He applied to study Football coaching at Myerscough College, Lancashire and landed his first role in professional football in 2014 when he became a video analyst at Belgian side Sint-Truiden.

A year later he got a fantastic step up in his career with a move to one of Belgium's biggest clubs, Standard Liege, but the manager and his coaching team were sacked, and Still became assistant manager at Lierse in 2017.

Disaster struck again as Lierse declared bankruptcy and so Still seized another opportunity in Belgium and joined Beerschot where he spent two years as an assistant.

After impressing from within, he eventually took charge in January 2021 and guided the newly-promoted side to within a point of the playoffs to reach the opening stages of the Europa League, but strangely enough that summer he was let go.

Luckily for Still, he was offered a position under Oscar Garcia as an assistant manager in Reims. However, when the Spaniard Garcia was let go in October, Will was appointed interim manager once again for a team where he would do so well that the club offered him the full position - where he remains doing a splendid job at the moment.

Football Manager to, well... Football Manager

Most young lads dream of becoming a football manager, but often the closest they ever get to achieving that goal is through the means of the popular computer game, Football Manager.

Still was no different, a young lad that discovered the game at the age of 17 when he was chasing a football career as a player. The game created such an impact on him that he quit playing football and decided to study at Myerscough College to become a professional coach.

He definitely made the right choice!

Why does Reims get fined every game he's in charge of?

Still doesn't have a UEFA Pro Licence which means that Reims have to pay £22,000 every time he takes charge of a game, as per the Ligue 1 rules.

This is only temporary. He is studying for the qualification at the National Football Centre near Brussels, which he visits once or twice a month.

One thing is for certain, if a team is willing to take a fine of that calibre every single game to have him at the helm, he must be good. Still looks set on a path destined to be one of Europe's great managers. It'll be very exciting to watch his career progress.