GODFATHER OF NON-LEAGUE
Maidstone’s John Still has seen it all in 2,000 games ... and he’s not done yet
JOHN STILL grabs a bottle of beer and retires to a quiet corner of the supporters’ bar. He is a veteran of more than 2,000 games but it helps him swallow the pain of conceding an equaliser in stoppage time. Some things don’t get any easier. Bath City’s Frankie Artus troops through in his dirty match kit and flip-flops to collect the man-of-the-match award, takes a microphone and admits he was responsible for Maidstone United’s opener as he lost his man at a corner. The raffle prizes are drawn, the ales flow and the spirit of non-League football oozes through on Non-League Day. ‘It makes English football what it is,’ says Still as he searches for the meaning of sporting life at this level and talks of the quality and ambition on the pitch, the loyalty and passion of the fans and vital community connections. ‘So many clubs are pulling in good crowds and giving opportunities to players who didn’t get one at a league club and are working their socks off to get back to the promised land. It’s easy to write players off when they never had the opportunity. ‘So many came to me that way and have gone on to play in the Championship. Or even the Premier League. Some became internationals. Without this level of football, that would never have happened.’
Warren Barton joined him at Leytonstone having been freed by Leyton Orient and moved with him to Maidstone before going on to play for England. There’s Craig Mackail-Smith, Gary Breen, Marlon King, all internationals. There’s Dwight Gayle and Jack Marriott.
Paul Benson was unearthed by Still playing for White Ensign in the Essex Olympian League, the 11th tier, joined him at Dagenham and Redbridge and moved to Charlton in 2010, five years and 70 goals later. Maidstone’s head of football is a legend living in non-League and his Godfatherly presence draws murmurs of appreciation on the terraces of Twerton Park, where almost 1,400 have turned up to see two mid-table teams in the sixth tier. ‘There he is,’ whispers one supporter to a friend as the tall figure of Still emerges from the tunnel. Bath City are 130 years old, with a rich history featuring Malcolm Allison, who started his managerial life here, and Tony Book, who made nearly 400 appearances before following Allison to Plymouth and, ultimately, Manchester City. More recently, they have enjoyed the backing of Eric Cantona via film-maker Ken Loach, an avid fan who launched the drive towards community ownership in 2017. But the future rests on a £50m development which would transform a forgotten corner of a well-to-do city and provide a new main stand, new facilities and an artificial pitch. They fear the worst if this does not get past the planners. If it does, a world of possibilities opens up. Still has won promotion to the Football League three times with three clubs. ‘At Luton it was special because of the relief,’ he says. ‘It was almost panic stations to get back in. If you’re a former Football League club, you’ve got to be good to get back. This isn’t Mickey Mouse. You’ve got to be better than before you came down. At Dagenham it was special because they were my club. I supported them as a boy, played p for and managed them. t So the day they went up was probably the biggest thing for me.’
Still, coaching non-stop since 1976, 19 has spent 17 years at the various v incarnations of Dagenham D and Redbridge, taking ta them into the third tier ti in 2010 via a memorable Wembley play-off final. His first promotion to the Football Fo League came in 1989 with the original Maidstone United but he quit to stay in part-time pa football.
‘I had a good job managing a textiles t firm,’ he said, and turned professional five years later when offered the chance to manage Peterborough as they slipped from the second tier into the third.
‘It was a case of now or never. I’ve never taken a job for the sake of it, never gone to a club where they’d be satisfied just to stay up. I turned down jobs in the Championship because it didn’t feel right. I’ve not got an ego. People told me not to take Luton because it was a poisoned chalice but there was a challenge. And look at them now, back in the Championship. ‘I’ve always thought the feeling of taking a team into the Football League could only be bettered by taking a team into the Premier League.’
At 69, the Premier League may have escaped him. But that won’t trouble him. It’s probably not his kind of place. He’d rather be among his people, sharing a beer in the supporters’ bar. Plotting another promotion, another improbable scouting mission.