 Still asLens manager in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Still | ||
| Date of birth | (1992-10-14)14 October 1992 (age 33) | ||
| Place of birth | Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| Sint-Truiden | |||
| Mons | |||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017 | Lierse | ||
| 2021 | Beerschot | ||
| 2022–2024 | Reims | ||
| 2024–2025 | Lens | ||
| 2025 | Southampton | ||
William Still (born 14 October 1992) is a professionalfootball coach who was most recently the manager ofSouthampton.
Born in Belgium to English parents, Still played youth and amateur football in Belgium before beginning coaching at the age of 17. In 2017, aged 24, he ledLierse in theBelgian First Division B, managingBeerschot in the same league four years later. He subsequently managedReims andLens inLigue 1. He was appointed manager of Southampton in May 2025 but was dismissed from this role in November 2025.
William Still was born on 14 October 1992[1] inBraine-l'Alleud, Belgium to English parents, Jane (née Bagley) and Julian Richard Still, who left the United Kingdom two years earlier. His father worked forShell.[2] Still has two brothers, Nicolas andEdward, both also active in football.[3][4] He holds dual Belgian and British citizenship.[5]
Growing up in theWalloon region, nearBrussels, he went to a French language school and then learned Dutch by playing for Flemish football clubs. He went throughSint-Truiden andMons youth teams, and finally played for Mons reserve team and amateur club Tempo Overijse, back then playing in theBelgian Fourth Division.[3]
Still has stated that playing theFootball Manager andChampionship Manager video game series helped him to decide to switch focus from playing at the age of 17, and move to England to start studying to become a coach atMyerscough College inPreston, Lancashire.[6][7]
Still is a fan ofPremier League clubWest Ham United.[8]
Still started his career as assistant of the U14 manager ofPreston North End, where he had an internship as part of his football studies at Myerscough College. In 2014, he became video analyst atSint-Truiden, after successfully using a match analysis to convince managerYannick Ferrera.[4] In 2015, the team were promoted to theBelgian First Division A, and when Ferrera switched toStandard Liège, Still followed him. That season, Standard Liège won theBelgian Cup, but in September 2016, both Ferrera and his assistants were sacked.[9]
In April 2017, Still started a new position at second division teamLierse, combining the video analyst job with the assignment as assistant manager ofFrederik Vanderbiest.[10] In June 2017, Still returned to Standard Liège,[11] 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.[12]
Still was able to return immediately to Lierse, where (at just 24 years of age) he was appointedcaretaker manager in October due to the sacking of Vanderbiest.[13][14] Eventually, Lierse employed Still as full-time manager.[15] Still managed to guide the team to 21 points out of 27, including a seven-game winning streak. The 2–0 victory againstWesterlo of 2 December 2017 became his last match as head coach however, as he did not possess aUEFA A Licence, which is required in theBelgian First Division B to remain in charge for more than 60 days.[16] Still stayed with Lierse but became the assistant of David Colpaert, who was formerly his assistant.[17]
At the end of the 2017–18 season, Lierse was declared bankrupt. Still left forBeerschot to become assistant ofStijn Vreven.[18] Under his successor,Hernán Losada, Beerschot and Still were promoted to theBelgian First Division A. After Losada left mid-January 2021 to start as head coach ofD.C. United, Still became the new manager of Beerschot.[7] At the end of the 2020–21 season, despite finishing 9th, Beerschot's owners decided to hire the more experiencedPeter Maes to take them into the next season.[7] The team finished last and were relegated.
Following his departure from Beerschot, Still joinedLigue 1 teamReims as assistant to managerÓscar García. Following four months in France, Still was offered roles at two Belgian clubs and chose to return to Standard Liège. Still explained that part of the reasoning behind this was the fact that his UEFA pro licence was registered in Belgium, so he was having to drive back and forth between Belgium and Reims to attend courses, which was becoming a strain on his time.[19]
At the end of the 2021–22 season, Still returned to the Ligue 1 side as an assistant manager. After García was sacked on 13 October 2022, Still took over as caretaker manager. Following an undefeated stretch of five games, he was appointed as manager for the rest of the 2022–23 season, becoming the youngest manager inEurope's top five leagues at 30 years of age. Since he did not hold aUEFA Pro Licence, Reims was fined €25,000 for every match Still managed[20] until he started a monthly course at the National Football Centre near Brussels.[21]
He started his tenure as head coach at Reims with a 14-game unbeaten streak in all competitions which ended with a 3–1 defeat againstToulouse in theCoupe de France round of 16,[22] including two draws against league leadersParis Saint-Germain.[19] With a 1–0 win againstMonaco on 12 March 2023, Still extended his unbeaten start as Reims manager to 17 matches, setting a new Ligue 1 record. He also became just the second manager to reach this mark in top-five European leagues in the 21st century, followingTito Vilanova with 18 matches atBarcelona in 2012–13.[23] A week later, his undefeated streak in Ligue 1 came to an end after a 2–1 home defeat againstMarseille.[24] Reims finished the season in 11th.[25]
On 2 May 2024, shortly before the end of the2023–24 Ligue 1 season, Still left by mutual consent. His team were in 11th, having won two of their last 14 games.[25]
On 10 June 2024, Still signed as the newLens manager on a three-year deal.[26] The team had finished 7th the previous season; on 18 May 2025, Still announced his departure from the club, who went on to finish 8th.[27] He was assisted by both his brothers during his time at the club.[28]
On 25 May 2025, Still signed a three-year contract withSouthampton.[29] His first competitive game in charge on 9 August was a 2–1 home victory againstWrexham.[30] On 2 November, Still was dismissed following a 2–0 home defeat againstPreston North End.[31] He left the club with two league wins in thirteen matches, leaving Southampton 21st in theChampionship.[32]
Still is currently in a relationship with Sky Sports reporter Emma Saunders. In March 2025, Saunders announced that she was suffering fromencephalitis.[33]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
| Lierse | 6 October 2017 | 2 December 2017 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 077.78 | |||
| Beerschot | 19 January 2021 | 30 June 2021 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 038.46 | |||
| Reims | 13 October 2022 | 2 May 2024 | 64 | 25 | 18 | 21 | 039.06 | |||
| Lens | 10 June 2024 | 18 May 2025 | 37 | 16 | 8 | 13 | 043.24 | |||
| Southampton | 25 May 2025 | 2 November 2025 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 025.00 | |||
| Total | 139 | 57 | 35 | 47 | 041.01 | |||||
