From Training on Football Manager to Facing Lionel Messi on the Pitch in Ligue 1

William Still has a lot of features on his hat. From managing Belgian football clubs Lierse and Beerschot in the past to currently serving as assistant manager of the Ligue 1 football club Stade de Reims, William’s career seems to be moving on an upward trajectory.

From coaching Preston’s U-14 team to facing Lionel Messi on his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) debut, William has seen a lot in his life. But most importantly, one of the things, William credits for his love for coaching is the time he had spent on football management games with his older brother Edward. It is important to mention that Edward is also a professional football manager and he is presently the coach of the Belgian football club Sporting Charleroi.

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William played as a professional footballer at a young age but eventually, he decided to focus on coaching. And as per an article published by Sportbible; William played the game “for so many hours.” Nothing would stop the brothers playing their then-favourite game: the EA-developed F.A. Premier League Football Manager 2001. Later, they played Championship Manager as well.

“We smashed that CD out of the disk tray. We played it for so many hours. And we never bought the new version. We played that disk until it couldn’t read anymore,” Still was quoted as speaking to Sportbible.

Talking about his worst phase, he added, “You would look at the clock and it was 10 pm and you’d say, ‘Oh I’ll go to bed at midnight.’ Then the next thing you know it’s like half four in the morning. And then you wake up thinking, ‘Why the hell did I do that?’ But yeah, there was a point where it became a bit over the top.”

William feels that as a football manager, the game gave him the “impetus to set up a team.”

“Football Manager gave me that impetus to want to set up a team. I wanted to be able to talk to players. I wanted to have that relationship. I mean, I was alright at football but FM allowed me to have that glimpse of what it actually was like to manage a team,” he said.

Stade de Reims are currently at 12th spot in the Ligue 1 standings. They have so far bagged 43 points from 36 matches.