John Still

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 1981–82.

Peterborough United In August 1994, Still accepted the manager's role at recently relegated Second Division club Peterborough United. In his first season in charge, Still led the club to a 15th-placed finish. 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. The club finished in 16th place in 1998–99 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 1999–2000, under the threat of the club being expelled from the division due to problems surrounding their home ground, Underhill. 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.

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 matches as manager and Still returned to lead the team for the remainder of the season. He was unable to prevent Barnet's slide back into the Football 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. Still agreed to remain as both the club's manager and director of football until a replacement could be found, with Barnet intending to promote youth team coach and former Norwich City defender Ian Culverhouse to manager. 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. At the time, Barnet were 14th in the table, winless in seven league matches and had been knocked out of the FA Trophy. He left the club in December 2003 after Rovers entered financial difficulty and were forced to cancel his contract.

Dagenham & Redbridge On 16 April 2004, Still returned to non-League football as manager of Dagenham & Redbridge for a second time. He took charge of the final two matches of 2003–04 as Dagenham finished in 13th position. With less money at his disposal than his predecessor Garry Hill, 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. The club finished in 11th place in 2004–05. 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" The club struggled for consistency through 2005–06, 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.

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 matches of the season left to play. Still won the Manager of the Month award for his team's performances in November 2006 and March 2007.

In 2007–08, 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, Still was named Manager of the Month for December 2008, as 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 matches, and had the second best goal difference behind only league winners Brentford.

In 2009–10, Still was named League Two Manager of the Month for August 2009, in which Dagenham won four of their opening five matches and took an early lead at the top of the League Two table. 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. 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. 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.

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

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. 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". Before leaving Dagenham, Still was the then-longest serving Football League manager, having spent nine years at the club. 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.

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. Still was later announced as the Conference Premier Manager of the Month for December 2013 following six wins from six matches that pushed Luton to the top of the table. 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 matches placed the club 14 points clear. On 15 April 2014, Luton confirmed their return to the Football League and claimed the Conference Premier title after second-placed team Cambridge United lost 2–0 to Kidderminster Harriers. This achievement made Still the only manager to have taken three different clubs to promotion out of non-League football. Still hailed the campaign as "the most remarkable season ever" that he had been involved in, with his side setting a number of club records including the longest league unbeaten run (27 matches), most consecutive away matches unbeaten (15), most clean sheets (23), and most points accumulated (101).

Still's Luton team began 2014–15 strongly, topping the League Two table after the first 15 matches, resulting in him receiving the Manager of the Month Award for October. 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.

In 2015–16, Still's Luton team struggled for consistency. A run of two wins in ten league matches 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. 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."

Third spell at Barnet On 17 May 2018, Still resigned from his role at Dagenham. A day later, he was confirmed as manager of Barnet, joining the National League club for the third time.

Still announced his retirement from football management on 28 December 2018 and took on the role of head of football at the club. Still left the Bees by mutual consent on 23 January 2019.

Maidstone United Still came out of retirement less than a month later when he joined Maidstone United as head of football on 23 January 2019. Still announced his retirement for a second time on 9 March 2020, leaving the club at the end of the 2019–20 season and expiration of his 18-month deal.

Southend United On 23 November 2021, Still was appointed head of football at Southend United.

Chelmsford City

On 20 April 2026, Still was appointed as Head of Football at National League South club Chelmsford City.

Managerial style Still has been described as a "direct and conventional tactician", often using a target man and fast wingers and/or strikers in either a 4–4–2 or 4–3–3 formation. During the nine seasons he spent in his second stint as manager of Dagenham & Redbridge, his team primarily employed direct, attacking long ball football. At Dagenham, Still was known to sometimes operate "attractive to watch" 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, demonstrated by 5–0, 6–0 and 7–0 wins over Alfreton Town, Kidderminster Harriers and Hereford United respectively.

Still's teams have been labelled as "fit and organised" Still has also said that he places attitude above ability, rejecting talented players who did not show ambition or willingness to self-improve.

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. Still's reputation for nurturing talent, combined with his vast array of contacts within the game gained through decades of coaching, 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 Mpanzu and Elliot Lee at Luton.

Managerial statistics + Managerial record by team and tenure

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Conference National: 2006–07 Freedom of the Borough of Luton: 2015