Where will the young Belgian coach making miracles in France stop, and will he stay?

Returning to Reims at the start of the season, after a first stint in 2021, Will Steele became the team’s coach after the departure of Oscar García, who was sacked in October when the club was in 15th place in the Championship. Will Still immediately made a successful debut at the helm of Rouge et Blanc with 2 wins and 3 draws, allowing the team to move up to 11th place. Performances that convinced the management to confirm him until the end of the season, despite the fact that he will only receive the coveted diploma (UEFA professional license) in the summer of 2023. Result: Reims must pay a fine of €25,000 per match, or €575,000 in total until the end of the season, To keep him as a coach “without a special diploma.”

Since October 2022, the Belgian technician has been doing wonders in Champagne: Reims has not lost a single Ligue 1 match (in 16 matches) and the club is currently eighth in the championship.

Born to English parents who left the UK two years before he was born, Willon grew up in Walloon Brabant, in a family where football and video games soccer were kings. His brothers Edouard (former coach at Charleroi) and Nicolas would also opt for a coaching career, after lackluster careers as players.

Before Reims, Will Steele, after taking his first steps as a video analyst, was already the head coach of Lierse in 2017, in Ligue 2, and Beerschot between January and June 2021, making him the youngest coach in the team’s history. Belgian first class.

With his critical manner and powerful pre-match conversation, Will Steele, who is perfectly trilingual, leaves no one in France indifferent. And for some media, he certainly has everything cool. “We are witnessing, week after week, the birth of a high level technician”Gazette books the team newly.