William Still (football manager)

William Still (born 14 October 1992), is a Belgian former footballer and manager. He is currently managing Beerschot.

William Still
Personal information
Full name William Still
Date of birth (1992-10-14) 14 October 1992
Place of birth Belgium
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Club information
Current team
 Beerschot (manager)
Youth career
Sint-Truiden
Mons
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Overijse
Grez-Doiceau
RJ Wavre
Rixensart
Wavre Limal
Teams managed
2011–2012 Preston North End U14 (assistant)
2017 Lierse (assistant)
2017 Lierse
2017–2018 Lierse (assistant)
2018–2021 Beerschot (assistant)
2021– Beerschot
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Biography

Still's parents left the United Kingdom for Belgium somewhere around the year 1990, with William being born in Belgium in 1992. He was raised in English and went to a French school in Walloon Brabant. He learned Dutch by playing for Flemish clubs and played for the youth teams of Sint-Truiden and Mons; and for the first team of Tempo Overijse, back then playing the Belgian Fourth Division.[1] Still has two brothers, Nicolas and Edward Still, both also active in football.[1][2]

Still started his career as assistant of the U14 manager of Preston North End. At that club he did an internship as part of his football studies at Myerscough College. In 2014 he became video analyst at Sint-Truiden, after successfully using a match analysis to convince manager Yannick Ferrera.[3] In 2015 the team promoted to the Belgian First Division A, but when Ferrera switched to Standard Liège, Still followed him. That season, Standard Liège won the Belgian Cup, but in September 2016, both Ferrera and his assistants were sacked.

In April 2017, Still started a new position at second division team Lierse, combining the video analyst job with the assignment as assistant manager of Frederik Vanderbiest.[4] In June 2017 Still returned to Standard Liège,[5] only to leave two days later as his new club did not want to fulfill the agreed upon arrangements as part of the contract negotiations.[6] Still was able to immediately return to Lierse, where (at just 24 years of age) he was even appointed caretaker manager from October as Vanderbiest got sacked.[7][8] Eventually, Lierse employed Still has full time manager.[9] Still managed to guide the team to 21 points out of 27, including a seven-game winning streak. The 2-0-victory against Westerlo of 2 December 2017 became his last match as head coach however, as he did not possess the "UEFA A-level coach" degree, which is required in the Belgian First Division B to remain in charge for more than 60 days.[10] Still stayed with Lierse but became the assistant of David Colpaert.

At the end of the 2017/18 season, Lierse was declared bankrupt. Still left for Beerschot to become assistant of Stijn Vreven.[11] Under his successor, Hernán Losada, Beersschot and Still promoted to the Belgian First Division A. After Losada left mid-January 2021 to start as head coach of D.C. United, Still became the new manager of Beerschot. With that he became the youngest ever manager in the Belgian First Division.

References
  1. Maak kennis met Will Still, de jongste trainer ooit: "Dit was eigenlijk niet de planning" Het Laatste Nieuws, 16 october 2017
  2. Broers William (Standard) en Edward Still (STVV), de analisten van Ferrera en Leko Het Belang van Limburg, 4 august 2016
  3. “Coach mag ’s nachts bellen” Het Belang van Limburg, 4 augustus 2016
  4. (in French) William Still (ex-Standard et Saint-Trond) rebondit au Lierse, en D1B L'Avenir, 11 april 2017
  5. “Doel is een periodetitel te pakken” Het Nieuwsblad, 26 juni 2017
  6. Videoanalist na 48 uur alweer weg bij Standard Het Laatste Nieuws, 29 juni 2017
  7. Lierse en coach Vanderbiest zijn uit elkaar Sporza, 6 oktober 2017
  8. Amper 24-jarige interim-coach Will Still leidt Pallieters naar gelijkspel tegen Tubeke: “Ik zit met een dubbel gevoel” Het Nieuwsblad, 9 oktober 2017
  9. Lierse behoudt vertrouwen in William Still als hoofdcoach Gazet van Antwerpen, 11 oktober 2017
  10. Jongste trainer ooit is na 21 op 21 noodgedwongen weer assistent bij Lierse Het Nieuwsblad, 2 December 2017
  11. Beerschot Wilrijk stelt Stijn Vreven voor als hoofdcoach, opvallende namen in technische staf Het Nieuwsblad, 25 mei 2018
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