John Still (footballer)

John Still

John Still in 2014, as manager of Luton Town
Personal information
Full name John Leonard Still
Date of birth (1950-04-24) 24 April 1950
Place of birth West Ham, Essex, England
Playing position Defender
Youth career
1966–1967 Leyton Orient
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1967–1970 Leyton Orient 1 (0)
1970–1972 Bishop's Stortford 16 (0)
1972–1974 Leytonstone 18 (0)
1974–1976 Dagenham 1 (0)
Total 36 (0)
Teams managed
1976–1979 Leytonstone
1979–1983 Leytonstone & Ilford
1983–1986 Dartford
1986 Leytonstone & Ilford
1986–1989 Maidstone United
1989–1992 Redbridge Forest
1992–1994 Dagenham & Redbridge
1994–1995 Peterborough United
1997–2000 Barnet
2001–2002 Barnet
2002–2003 Bristol Rovers (assistant manager)
2004–2013 Dagenham & Redbridge
2013–2015 Luton Town
2016– Dagenham & Redbridge

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


John Leonard Still (born 24 April 1950) is an English former footballer and is currently the manager of Dagenham & Redbridge.

After his playing career was cut short by injury, Still began managing non-League clubs around his hometown area of East London, Essex and Kent, achieving title wins and promotions with Leytonstone & Ilford, Dartford, Maidstone United and Redbridge Forest. He was manager of Redbridge Forest when the club merged with Dagenham in 1992 to become its current incarnation – Dagenham & Redbridge. Still accepted his first job in The Football League in August 1994 at Peterborough United, but was sacked a year later. He joined Barnet in June 1997 and took the club to the play-offs twice, before leaving in 2002 after the club was relegated to the Football Conference. Still returned to Dagenham & Redbridge in April 2004, guiding the club to promotion to League Two in the 2006–07 season and then to League One three years later. In February 2013, after nine seasons in charge, Still left Dagenham and dropped down a league to join Luton Town. In his first full season as Luton manager, the club were crowned as Conference Premier champions and won promotion to League Two, making Still the only manager to lead three different clubs to promotion out of non-League football. He led Luton to an eighth-placed finish in League Two during the 2014–15 season, before leaving the club in December 2015. Still rejoined Dagenham for a third term as manager on 1 January 2016. He is the leader among English football managers with most games managed

Still has earned a reputation for spotting young talented footballers in the non-League game, particularly during his time at Dagenham. A number of players that Still has developed have gone on to play in the Championship and the Premier League.

Playing career

Born in West Ham, Still joined Leyton Orient as a youth player, signing as an amateur for them in May 1967. He made his league debut the following season, playing at centre-back against Torquay United, but that proved to be his only league appearance before being released, having injured his knee in the game.[1][2] He later moved into non-League football with Bishop's Stortford, Leytonstone and Dagenham. Still's playing career was ended despite surgery on his injured knee and he began coaching, while also working part-time as a salesman.[1][2][3]

Management career

Part-time career

Still's first managerial job came with Leytonstone in 1976, which merged with Ilford three years later to become Leytonstone & Ilford. He took the club to their first Isthmian League title in the 1981–82 season.[3] In 1983, Still joined Dartford as manager, where he won the Southern League title before returning to Leytonstone & Ilford for a short time.[3] His next post came in 1986 at Maidstone United, which he guided to the Conference title and promotion to The Football League in 1989.[3] Still resigned as Maidstone manager soon after, having no desire to move into a full-time coaching role,[3] and moved to Isthmian League side Redbridge Forest, which had been formed in 1989 by a merger of his former club Leytonstone & Ilford and Walthamstow Avenue. He guided Redbridge to the Isthmian League title, and with it promotion to the Conference, in the 1990–91 season. Still took Redbridge to a seventh-placed finish in the next season and remained with the club as it yet again merged, this time with Dagenham to become Dagenham & Redbridge, in the summer of 1992.[3] The club finished the 1992–93 season in third and the 1993–94 season in sixth.

Peterborough United

In August 1994, Still accepted the manager's role at recently relegated Second Division side Peterborough United. In his first season in charge, Still led the club to a 15th-placed finish.[3] He was sacked by the club on 24 October 1995 after winning only three of Peterborough's first 13 league games of the 1995–96 season.[3][4] While at Peterborough, he gave debuts to players such as Adam Drury, Giuliano Grazioli and Mark Tyler.

Barnet

After leaving Peterborough, Still became a coach at Third Division club Lincoln City before being appointed as manager of their divisional rivals Barnet in June 1997.[3] In preparation for the 1997–98 season, Still primarily signed players he had worked with at Peterborough, including Ken Charlery, Greg Heald, Billy Manuel, and Scott McGleish. In his first season in charge, Still took Barnet to the Third Division play-offs, but lost 3–2 in the semi-final to Colchester United.[5] The club finished the 1998–99 season in 16th place and only seven points from relegation – their lowest position since being promoted to The Football League. Still led Barnet to the play-offs once again in the 1999–2000 season, under the threat of the club being expelled from the division due to problems surrounding their home ground, Underhill.[6] The club spent most of the season in the league's promotion places, but fell away in the final months and ultimately lost 5–1 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final to Still's former club Peterborough United.[7]

In November 2000, Still became Barnet's director of football following the high-profile appointment of former England international Tony Cottee as player-manager. At the time, Barnet were sitting in tenth place in the league, but soon suffered a sharp loss of form and plunged down the table to the relegation zone. On 16 March 2001, Cottee left after losing 13 of his 19 league games as manager and Still returned to lead the team for the remainder of the season.[8] He was unable to prevent Barnet's slide back into the Conference, as a 3–2 defeat at home to Torquay United on the final day of the season saw them relegated and end a decade-long stay in the Football League.[9] Still agreed to remain as both the club's manager and director of football until a replacement could be found, with Barmet intending to promote youth team coach and former Norwich City defender Ian Culverhouse to manager.[10] However, Culverhouse left the club in January 2001 to become youth team coach at Leyton Orient and Still subsequently resigned as manager one month later.[10][11] At the time, Barnet were 14th in the table, winless in seven league games and had been knocked out of the FA Trophy.[11]

Still remained as Barnet's director of football until the end of the 2001–02 season, before leaving to become the assistant manager of Third Division side Bristol Rovers in May 2002, joining up with Ray Graydon.[12] He left the club in December 2003 after Rovers entered financial difficulty and were forced to cancel his contract.[13]

Dagenham & Redbridge

On 16 April 2004, Still returned to non-League football as manager of Dagenham & Redbridge for a second time.[14] He took charge of the final two games of the 2003–04 season as Dagenham finished in 13th position. With less money at his disposal than his predecessor Garry Hill,[15] Still began overhauling the squad, signing players from further down the league pyramid such as Craig Mackail-Smith, Shane Blackett, Scott Griffiths and Glen Southam, while allowing 15 players to leave.[16][17] The club finished the 2004–05 season in 11th place. Still continued building his squad, signing Carshalton Athletic winger Sam Saunders and White Ensign striker Paul Benson, who was playing in the Essex Olympian League – the eleventh tier of English football. In October 2005, Still was offered the manager's job at Bristol Rovers, but rejected it stating that he was "very settled"[18] at Dagenham.[18] The club struggled for consistency through the 2005–06 campaign, finishing the season in tenth, albeit with fewer points than in 2004–05. The Dagenham board, who had faith in Still's long-term plans for the club, offered him a new two-year contract, which he signed in July 2006.[15][19]

In his third season in charge Still's team began well, losing only three of their first 20 matches to sit in second place in the table by November. The team continued its winning form and, on 7 April 2007, won the Conference National title and promotion to League Two for the first time in the club's history with five games of the season left to play.[20] Still won the Manager of the Month award for his team's performances in November 2006 and March 2007.[21][22]

In the 2007–08 season, Still prevented Dagenham from being immediately relegated back into non-League by guiding them to a 20th-place finish, seven points from the relegation zone. In the following season, Dagenham missed out on a play-off place by one point. Still's team ended that campaign as the league's top scorers with 77 goals in 46 games, and had the second best goal difference behind only league winners Brentford.

In the 2009–10 season, Still led the club to their then-highest ever finish in their history – seventh in League Two – which allowed them to qualify for the play-offs. His team beat Morecambe 7–2 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final, which included a 6–0 win in the first leg.[23] He led the team out on 30 May 2010 at Wembley Stadium to face Rotherham United for a place in League One. The Daggers won 3–2, with goals from Paul Benson, Danny Green and Jon Nurse, and were promoted to the third tier of English football for the first time.[3][24] Still won the BBC London Sports Personality of the Year award for this achievement, beating Premier League winning manager Carlo Ancelotti and European Athletics Championship goal medallist Mo Farah, amongst others.[4] Still underwent an operation during the middle of the season to cure an ongoing problem with kidney stones and gallstones; this kept him from attending a number of matches, leaving assistant manager Terry Harris in charge.[25]

Still's team struggled to compete on their limited budget in League One and were relegated on the last day of the 2010–11 season following a 5–0 defeat to Peterborough United. On 13 May 2011, Still turned down the managerial job at League Two side Bradford City.[26]

He presided over the reconstruction of Dagenham & Redbridge's squad in 2011–12 as his team finished in 19th position. At the beginning of the following season, Still was assured by the Dagenham board that no players would be sold; information which he then relayed to his players.[27] In January 2013, striker Dwight Gayle was sold to Championship team Peterborough United for a club-record fee of £470,000, which left Still feeling "a bit undermined".[27] In February 2013, with the Daggers sitting in 16th place in the League Two table, the club was approached by Conference Premier side Luton Town for permission to speak to Still about their vacant managerial job. Still agreed to join Luton, with Dagenham waiving the full compensation fee "in light of the fantastic job he has done for the [club]".[28] Before leaving Dagenham, Still was the then-longest serving Football League manager, having spent nine years at the club.[28]

Luton Town

On 26 February 2013, Still joined Conference Premier side Luton Town, replacing Paul Buckle.[28] He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the club, stating that he wanted to bring stability after it had employed four different managers in four seasons.[29] While Luton could have mathematically qualified for the play-offs in the final two months of the 2012–13 season, Still elected instead to assess the squad in order to prepare for the next season.[29] Two of the team's worst performances of the season[29] came at this time – a 2–1 home defeat to Hyde on 12 March 2013 and 5–1 loss to Gateshead a month later – but the team rebounded with a five-game unbeaten run to end the season in seventh place.[29] Still began making his mark on the club during the close season by releasing twelve players, signing eleven new ones, overhauling the club's backroom staff, and instilling his philosophy on the club.[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]

The changes began to have the desired effect; on 21 December 2013, following a run of form in the league that put Luton in a strong position to challenge for the title, it was announced that Still had signed a new contract through to 2015 with the condition that, for each promotion the club won, an additional year would be added to the contract.[37] Still was later announced as the Conference Premier Manager of the Month for December 2013 following six wins from six games that pushed Luton to the top of the table.[38] Luton continued their unbeaten league run under his management, which saw him win the Manager of the Month award for February 2014 after four wins from four games placed the club 14 points clear.[39] On 15 April 2014, Luton confirmed their return to the Football League and claimed the Conference Premier title after second-placed side Cambridge United lost 2–0 to Kidderminster Harriers.[40] This achievement made Still the only manager to have taken three different clubs to promotion out of non-League football.[41] Still hailed the campaign as "the most remarkable season ever"[42] that he had been involved in, with his side setting a number of club records including the longest league unbeaten run (27 games), most consecutive away games unbeaten (15), most clean sheets (23), and most points accumulated (101).[42] Luton's strong run-in at the end of the season, which saw them win six of their seven matches, led to Still winning the Manager of the Month award for April 2014; the third time in a single season that he had been awarded the accolade.[43]

Still's Luton side began the 2014–15 season strongly, topping the League Two table after the first 15 games, resulting in him receiving the Manager of the Month Award for October.[44] The club remained in contention for automatic promotion for much of the season until a run of seven consecutive losses throughout March and April left them struggling to stay in the play-off positions. Luton ultimately finished the season in eighth position, three points and one place from the play-offs. In January 2015, Still was awarded honorary freedom of the borough of Luton.[45]

In the 2015–16 season, Still's Luton side struggled for consistency. A run of two wins in ten league games from October through to December led to Still being sacked by the Luton board on 17 December 2015, with the club sitting in 17th place in the League Two table.[46] BBC Three Counties stated that: "Still's reign ended in boos [following a 4–3 home defeat to Northampton Town], but he'll be forever remembered as the Hatters boss who returned Luton to the Football League."[46]

Return to Dagenham & Redbridge

On 31 December 2015 it was announced that Still would return as manager of struggling Dagenham & Redbridge, replacing Wayne Burnett who had been sacked earlier in December.[47]

Managerial style

Still has been described as a “direct and conventional tactician”, often utilising a target man and fast wingers and/or strikers in either a 4–4–2 or 4–3–3 formation.[48][49] During the nine seasons he spent in his second stint as manager of Dagenham & Redbridge, his team primarily employed direct, attacking long ball football.[50] At Dagenham, Still was known to sometimes operate "attractive to watch"[51] football and, in Luton Town's title-winning season in 2013–14, his team was described as playing "fast, attacking football" with a "pass and move" mentality,[52] demonstrated by 5–0, 6–0 and 7–0 wins over Alfreton Town, Kidderminster Harriers and Hereford United respectively.[52][53][54][55]

Still's teams have been labelled as "fit and organised"[56] and, even at clubs with small budgets, he has stated that he always employs a fitness and conditioning coach.[56][57] Still has also said that he places attitude above ability, rejecting talented players who did not show ambition or willingness to self-improve.[58]

He has won praise for his man-management and talent spotting skills, especially his ability to discover young players in non-League football at the sixth tier and below, develop them and then sell them – often for a significant profit.[48] Players that Still has developed that have gone on to play at a higher level include Marlon King, Craig Mackail-Smith, Paul Benson, Sam Saunders, Danny Green, and Dwight Gayle. Dagenham & Redbridge managing director Steve Thompson has stated that Still's ability to do this kept the club consistently able to compete while operating on a far smaller budget than its rivals.[59] Still's reputation for nurturing talent, combined with his vast array of contacts within the game gained through decades of coaching,[60] have also led to highly rated young players from Premier League academies joining his teams on loan. Examples include Marlon Pack and Matt Ritchie at Dagenham, and Cameron McGeehan, Pelly Ruddock and Elliot Lee at Luton.[60]

Elite Soccer Coaching magazine has stated that Still’s "likeable character" and ability to find and develop players from the non-League game have made him one of the most respected coaches in English football.[61]

Honours

Promotions and titles
Individual
Special awards

Managerial statistics

As of 3 December 2016.[63]
Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Leytonstone England 1 July 1976 1 July 1979 114 54 25 35 47.37
Leytonstone & Ilford England 1 July 1979 8 January 1983 138 54 51 33 39.13
Dartford England 8 January 1983 6 February 1986 124 65 39 20 52.42
Leytonstone & Ilford England 6 February 1986 30 June 1986 21 9 8 4 42.86
Maidstone United England 1 July 1986 1 January 1989 152 76 38 38 50.00
Redbridge Forest[64] England 1 January 1989 28 June 1992 147 73 31 43 49.66
Dagenham & Redbridge England 30 June 1992 1 August 1994 100 43 28 29 43.00
Peterborough United England 1 August 1994 24 October 1995 67 19 24 24 28.36
Barnet England 30 June 1997 1 November 2000 175 66 43 66 37.71
Barnet England 16 March 2001 22 February 2002 51 17 15 19 33.33
Dagenham & Redbridge England 16 April 2004 26 February 2013 454 170 100 184 37.44
Luton Town England 26 February 2013 17 December 2015 148 69 38 41 46.62
Dagenham & Redbridge England 1 January 2016 Present 51 21 7 23 41.18
Total 1,742 736 447 559 42.25

References

  1. 1 2 "Uddin thriving in Dagenham leadership role". Sunday Times. 30 December 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  2. 1 2 Osborne, Chris (16 April 2014). "Luton Town: John Still provides elusive promotion". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Luton appoint John Still as manager". Leighton Buzzard Observer. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Sacked by Posh but Still is now a managerial legend". Peterborough Telegraph. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  5. "Barnet F.C. results 1997-98". Soccerbase. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  6. "Barnet fail in play-offs". BBC Sport. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  7. "Barnet F.C. results 1999-2000". Soccerbase. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  8. "Cottee leaves Barnet". BBC Sport. 16 March 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  9. "Alchemist John Still can rightfully claim to be manager of the year". Western Morning News. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Still quits as Barnet boss". BBC Sport. 22 February 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  11. 1 2 "Barnet boss Still quits". Evening Standard. 22 February 2002. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  12. "Still named Graydon's assistant". League Managers Association. 9 May 2002. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  13. "Rovers release Still". BBC Sport. 15 December 2003. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
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  15. 1 2 "John's Still standing". BBC Sport. 30 March 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
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  59. "Price of Football: How Dagenham & Redbridge survive on a budget". BBC Sport. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  60. 1 2 "Still's West Ham links helped Pelly deal". Luton Today. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  61. "John Still profile at Elite Soccer Coaching". Elite Soccer Coaching. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  62. "Leader of the Council pays tribute to John Still". Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
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  64. "Redbridge Forest F.C. statistics". Elite Soccer Coaching. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
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