‘I got lucky’ – Lens manager Will Still on his impressive rise in football management | OneFootball

During a guest appearance on Sky Sports‘ Monday Night Football, Lens manager Will Still explained his impressive rise through the ranks to become a first-team manager at the age of 32.

The Anglo-Belgian head coach recited how he started his career working in football and how that led him to become the manager of two different clubs in Ligue 1. Still revealed that he had his first taste of coaching with Preston North End. The former Reims manager took charge of their under-12s team between 2011 and 2012.

After leaving the EFL Championship side, Still went into more detail about his journey through the ranks in Belgium as a video analyst before becoming the manager of Reims in Ligue 1. He was appointed as the permanent head coach of the Champagne club after Oscar Garcia was relieved of his services in 2022, despite having an initial spell as interim coach.

Commenting on his experience, Still said, “I’ve been incredibly lucky, I started off as a video analyst in the Belgian second and first division… I got lucky at the right times.  I moved to France as an assistant manager. Then, the door sort of opened up when the manager I was working for got fired, and the club asked me to take over for the 5 games before the World Cup.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith