Williams is reassured by backers
INS AND OUTS TITLE ODDS
Maidstone boss John Still says football has kept him sane after revealing his wife almost died
this summer.
Barbara, Still’s wife of 44 years, was seriously ill in hospital after contracting two rare diseases. The first, Goodpasture’s Disease, attacked her kidneys. She survived that but was then struck down by a blood disease known as HLH.
Barbara was so unwell, a priest was twice called to her hospital room to perform the last rites. Amazingly, as doctors tried different treatments, Barbara pulled through.
The Stones head of football was worried sick but continued to work, meeting transfer targets at the hospital.
Barbara’s illness has given Still a fresh appreciation for the important things in life but football helped him cope.
Still, 69, said: “This has been the toughest four or five months of my life, with my wife, but I was still able to fulfil what I had to do, albeit a lot of it direct from the hospital.
“I know it sounds silly but I had a desk at the hospital, I used to meet players there.
“If I’d been managing miles up the road I probably would have bombed it and said I couldn’t do it but this actually has kept me sane a little bit and given me other things to think about rather than just the obvious.
“I’ll be honest, I found it really, really tough going and it’s remarkable how my family got together, my children and my wife’s sisters and friends, to allow me to complete what I was doing. “I can’t remember, on or off the pitch, anything that has absorbed so much of my thoughts.
“It really has been difficult but we think we’re through it a long way now if I’m honest, but it puts things in perspective.
“You don’t know what’s round the corner, no one does, but it’s a part of my life that became more important than any trophies I’ve won.
“There’s nothing that can take the place of what all my family went through and how we dealt with it and how my wife has come out the other side.
“We had the priest in twice. It was frightening.
“If you were to speak to my wife, although I used to go in at 8am and leave 8pm, sometimes she wouldn’t speak a word but she heard everything that was going on, the doctors talking about her condition. “She was traumatised by it as well. She thought she wasn’t going to be here.
“We thought she was gone, my whole family did, so all these things give you a wake-up call to what’s important and make you realise you’re not invincible. “You think you are, I’m 69, I’m never ill, I go out training every day, but I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.” Still goes into the new season with a different outlook on management, too.
He added: “I think all this will actually make me a better manager and a better person because I understand now that sometimes you take things for granted.
“Sometimes you take players’ loss of form personally and sometimes you take a bad result personally but this has taught me, quite severely, that sometimes things just happen. “There’s no rhyme or reason but it’s how you deal with it. “Sometimes, all of us who do this job, we think we’re better than we are but we’re not, we’re just people who do a job.
“We have problems and you’ve got to deal with them as opposed to thinking, ‘well, I know it all’. “I didn’t know it all before and this has made me realise how lucky I am to do this job, how lucky I am my wife’s come through it, how lucky I am that I’ve got such a strong family, and how lucky I am I’ve got a group of players who will go out and work their socks off.”
INS
Lewis Knight (St Albans) Ibrahim Olutade (Leatherhead)
Clovis Kamdjo (St Albans) George Elokobi (Aldershot) Gavin Hoyte (Dagenham) Luke Pennell (Dagenham) Jake Cole (Aldershot)
Iffy Allen (Braintree)
Nana Kyei (Barnet)
Danny Divine (Gillingham) Sam Corne (Ashford)
Jonny Edwards (Halifax)
Noah Chesmain (Colchester) Saidou Khan (Tooting)
Ryan Johnson (East Grinstead) Ibby Akanbi (Uknown) Havant 9/2 Billericay 5/1 Chelmsford 12/1 Concord 12/1 Braintree 12/1
Maidstone 14/1
Hemel 14/1 Bath 14/1
OUTS
Blair Turgott (Ostersunds) Jack Richards (Margate) George McLennan (Released) Jordan Wynter (Dartford)
Will De Havilland (Dover) Andre Coker (Released)
Jack Powell (Crawley)
Elliott Romain (Eastbourne) Josh Strizovic (Dagenham) Simon Walton (Havant)
Ollie Muldoon (Chelmsford) Michael Phillips (Wealdstone) Rob Swaine (Welling)
Loanees Dion Curtis-Henry, Aron Davies, Jake Cassidy and Josh Taylor also returned to parent clubs Welling 14/1 Wealdstone 14/1 Dartford 16/1 Dulwich 20/1 Dorking 25/1 Slough 25/1 Weymouth 25/1 Hampton 33/1 St Albans 33/1 Chippenham 40/1 Oxford City 40/1 Eastbourne 40/1 Tonbridge 50/1 Hungerford 66/1 (Source:
SkyBet) Bill Williams’ apprehension was quickly replaced by optimism as fans and sponsors rallied round Maidstone following relegation. Chief executive Williams was left questioning some of his decisions at the end of a miserable campaign that saw United finish bottom of the National League. Three managers couldn’t save Maidstone from the drop but the club have rebuilt under their 1989 Conference-winning boss John Still and are looking forward to better times.
Williams said: “When things go wrong it can be quite hard when you’re sitting at the top of the tree.
“We have a lot of decisions to make as a board and we got a few wrong last year.
“Sometimes you can lose a bit of confidence when that happens. “I’ve always had lots of confidence in what I do but a little bit of apprehension came into me, definitely.
“But that’s gone now because of a number of things.
“One, we got huge support from our sponsors, we got huge support from advertisers and the local community, and we got huge support from our fans.
“One or two had a little moan but, on the whole, everyone’s backed us.
“When they all rally round and say, ‘let’s get on with this and see if we can get a good team and a good club back on the rails again’, it’s reassuring to hear.
“We’re working very hard at that. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to win every match – that isn’t going to happen – but I like the way John and Hakan (Hayrettin) have gone about it.
“They’re not making any promises but I can see the improvement every day I come into the building.”
Maidstone have started virtually from scratch, with Jake Embery, Justin Amaluzor and goalkeeper coach Chris Lewington the only survivors from last season’s playing squad.
Williams said: “It was a huge challenge and it still is. My first reaction was it’s going to be very, very difficult.
“I’ve never taken on what John took on this time.
“I’ve never got rid of a whole squad, bar a couple, and had to put 16 to 20 players in place.
“We do look as though we’re improving and the players are working tremendously hard.
“The only way you can be judged is once the season has started. “I’ve had a look at the league and it’s going to be a very hard league this year.
“There’s a lot of good teams, the obvious ones, but I think there’s going to be a few surprises as well.”