Who is Will Still, Ligue 1 Reims manager who learned from Football Manager?

This story can prove that to be a successful professional manager; you don’t need to play professionally. Will Still, the coach of Reims after the dismissal of Spanish coach Oscar Garcia in October, is causing a sensation in Ligue 1. The 30-year-old story inspires those who want to become professional coaches without having had a football background.

Will does not yet have a UEFA professional license; for this, his Reims team must pay twenty-five thousand euros in each game until he gets one. The team is not bothered by this. The coach has proven to be more than qualified for the job. The team has lost only one game in its last 17 games.

How did Football Manager influence Will Still and help him get to Reims?

Will said he transitioned from playing to coaching at age seventeen when he started playing the famous Football Manager game. The game had such an impact on him that he quit playing football and decided to study at Myerscough College to become a professional coach. Will secured an internship with Preston North End as part of his studies, thus starting his career.

From there he jumped to become a videographer for Yannick Ferrera in Sint-Truiden after convincing the ex-footballer to hire him following a gripping analysis of a match. He would follow Ferrera to his next position with Standard Liege. Ferrera would later be sacked from his post, prompting Will to join second division side Lierse as videographer and assistant manager to Frederik Vanderbies.

While at Lierse he was made acting manager, starting his first sting as a professional gaffer. After a few years of jumping from team to team in Belgium and France, he was offered a job under Oscar Garcia as assistant coach at Reims. However, when the Spaniard Garcia was dismissed in October, Will was again made caretaker coach for a team where he would do so well that the club offered him the full job.

Why should Reims pay a fine to employ Will Still?

According to UEFA rules, anyone who coaches a professional team must have a professional UEFA professional license. Coaches can complete their training in their respective countries and then request an equivalence.

Although he studied in England and did most of his professional work in Belgium, he can have his training and license validated in any European country.