The most asked question when Football Manager comes up will forever be: “Could a good Football Manager player become a good coach in real life?”
Could popular streamers Zealand, ofManny, or DoctorBenjy be successful at a real life club?
And I think we now have the answer with the youngest coach in Europe. A 30 year old who is currently undefeated in Ligue 1 for Reims… but there is another layer to this story. Reims have to pay £22,000 every match that he coaches the team. What the hell is going on there? I really couldn’t believe this story when I first heard about it, but let Will Still’s story speak for itself.
First of all, I can’t believe we’re talking about a guy named Will Still. Why are you rhyming your names? Anyways…
Will Still is the current manager of Reims in France where USMNT fans are chomping at the bit to see Folarin Balogun commit to the US. You may have seen the big result over the weekend where Balogun hit the tying goal with seconds to spare in the game. The result kept Will Still undefeated in 12 matches to start his Reims career and his team currently has 6 wins, 6 draws and a +15 goal differential.
He is English/Belgian and a year younger than me. Seriously, what have I been doing with my life? He started his managing career because he was obsessed with the popular computer game Football Manager. For anyone that hasn’t played - it is an ultra-detailed simulation game where you take control of every aspect of a football club from training, recruiting, transfers and gameday management. You set the lineups and the tactics among 100s of other responsibilities.
Still used his experience of playing Football Manager to jump into an assistant manager role for Preston North End’s U14 squad as part of his collegiate credits. After graduating he moved into analyst and assistant coach roles back in Belgium where he grew up, but in 2017 he got his first taste of being the full-time manager as caretaker for Lierse in the second division. Even though he won 7 matches in a row taking 21 points out of 27 available, he couldn’t continue because Belgium required a UEFA-A Level coaching certificate to manage a team more than 60 days.
Will Still did not have the appropriate coaching license to continue, but his performance caught the eye of another team looking to climb the divisions - Beerschot. This story is wild in itself, but I’d like to add a detail that unnerves me after researching this story. Last year I was looking to pick a new team in Football Manager to start a new career with. I had a mystery kit box ordered and figured if the kit was from a European club that’s who I would pick. Well lo and behold Beerschot was the kit I received and the club I managed in Football Manager 2022.
Will Still said this of his tactical development:
“I was just like a normal kid playing Football Manager,” he insists.
“I spent nights where you get to 10 o’clock in the evening, thinking, ‘Ok one more game.’ And then you end up at 4 o’clock in the morning: ‘Oh, I’m still at it.’
“But what I realise now, the crazy thing is it’s actually so realistic.”
Will Still again got a chance to manage the first team as a caretaker for Beerschot after their manager Hernan Losada left for DC United in Major League Soccer. At the end of the 2020–21 season, despite finishing 9th, Beerschot's owners decided to hire the more experienced Peter Maes to take them into the next season.
After the 2021 season Still joined the Reims coaching staff, but left after four months because he was travelling back and forth from Belgium to France in order to receive his UEFA Pro license. He was going to classes in Belgium and coaching in France, it just wasn’t working out.
At the end of the 2022 season, Still still hadn’t received his UEFA Pro license but was asked to come back to Reims as an assistant to Oscar Garcia. Garcia only lasted four months into the season before he was fired and Will Still began his Reims career as first team manager.
Following an undefeated stretch of five games, he was appointed as manager for the rest of the season. He did all of this without his license, but with all of the experience of Football Manager. But here comes the kicker. He is still studying for his UEFA Pro license, a license that is required to manage a first division side in France. So everytime Still coaches Reims, the club is fined £22,000 or about $25,000 by EUFA.
After 12 games unbeaten and a marquee draw against French giants PSG, I’m sure Reims are perfectly happy to pay the fine until the end of the season. The difference of staying in Ligue 1 vs being relegated to Ligue 2 is worth over $15,000,000.
This is nuts and damn I should have played more video games lol
Insane fairytale story this!