Latest news with #EmmaSaunders
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Sky Sports presenter and WAG of Championship manager returns to work after cancer battle and a brain infection which left her in a coma
Sky Sports presenter Emma Saunders has returned to TV screens after a brutal health battle which saw her football manager boyfriend move back to the UK. Saunders, who regularly hosts Premier League coverage for the broadcasting giant, was first treated for thyroid cancer before being diagnosed with the serious brain infection encephalitis. She was placed in a coma to aid her recovery. However, she is now on the mend and was back on TV duties with Sky last weekend. Her partner, Southampton 's new head coach Will Still, admitted he could not bear to be away from Saunders any longer and made the decision to leave his job in France. After stepping down at Ligue 1 side Lens and returning home to be closer to his girlfriend, Still, 32, was approached by the Saints and signed a three-year contract. 'I needed to be closer to home and ultimately Emma is home,' Still said. The hope is that Saunders will become a fixture of Sky Sports' coverage for the upcoming campaign and thankfully, she has taken real strides. Providing a promising update, Still said, via The Sun: 'She's getting a lot better. There's still the odd thing here and there that isn't quite right. 'But she has gone back into work for the first time in a very long while so that's good. 'And just the fact I can go home to her after my training and games means she feels better about everything - and now has more control. She's getting there.' Still and Saunders went public with their relationship during Euro 2024, having chatted on social media and met at various events before falling for each other. He made regular trips on the Eurostar to spend time with Saunders in St Albans while continuing to coach in France, trusting his brothers to take the reins in his absence. 'I'm not going to pretend it wasn't tough but was lucky my brothers Ed and Nico were also working at Lens,' Still said, recalling Saunders' harrowing health struggles. 'They knew exactly what was going on. Ed had been a head coach so could just do it. 'And when Emma got the cancer news in September, he was like, "Will, just go away, you shouldn't be here." But I kept coming to the UK two days a week. 'If there was a day off on a Monday, I'd stay Tuesday and come back Wednesday to prepare for the game. But I won't miss the Eurostar - as good as that service is!'
The Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Popular Sky Sports presenter returns to work after harrowing battle with cancer and brain infection
SKY SPORTS presenter Emma Saunders has returned to work after a harrowing health battle. The popular presenter has endured a year from hell after fighting thyroid cancer before being sent into a coma with the viral brain infection encephalitis. 4 4 4 4 But thanks to excellent healthcare and the support of her loved ones, including Southampton manager Will Still, she is now on the mend. The 32-year-old returned to broadcasting duties with Sky last Saturday. And she is hoping to once again become a regular face on our screens again during the upcoming season. Speaking exclusively to SunSport, former Lens manager Still said: "She's getting a lot better. There's still the odd thing here and there that isn't quite right. 'But she has gone back into work for the first time in a very long while so that's good. 'And just the fact I can go home to her after my training and games means she feels better about everything — and now has more control. She's getting there.' Still, 32, and Saunders had gone public with their relationship in the summer of 2024, after the pair got chatting on social media and met at various events before their romance blossomed. He became a regular on the Eurostar to pay visits his to girlfriend in St Albans in England while he continued to manage in France - giving brothers Ed and Nico the reins while he was away. But he admitted to feeling "emotionally drained" during the difficult health battle. He said: "I'm not going to pretend it wasn't tough but was lucky my brothers Ed and Nico were also working at Lens. 'They knew exactly what was going on. Ed had been a head coach so could just do it. 'And when Emma got the cancer news in September, he was like, 'Will, just go away, you shouldn't be here.' 'But I kept coming to the UK two days a week. If there was a day off on a Monday I'd stay Tuesday and come back Wednesday to prepare for the game. But I won't miss the Eurostar — as good as that service is!' Saunders' final game of last season had been a trip to Anfield in February, but she thanked all the people who had reached out to her in a heartfelt Instagram post in May. Saunders wrote: "Wasn't to know at the time but a trip to Anfield in Feb was my last game this season; gutted to have had this campaign cut so short but at least we signed off on a high at the home of the Champions. "Thank you to everyone who's reached out - the kind words and encouragement have gone such a long way in recovery. Very grateful to say things are moving in the right direction and I'm feeling much more 'me'. Looking forward to a fresh start in August." Still had initially opted not to go public about his partner's health problems — but soon realised it was taking too much of a toll. He said: 'It was too difficult not saying anything. At the start I was like 'I don't want to say anything. I'll tell it to the players, but I don't want people talking about it.' 'But that's not the right thing to do. As soon as you open up, people go, 'I'll give you a bit of time and space to be just a human being.' And you then realise there are much more important things than football. 'Football's great, pays the bills and it's what I love doing. But those first weeks, when Emma was diagnosed with cancer and then the brain infection in March, made it not that important. 'It was draining because I also needed to be at Lens as that was my job and people were paying me a lot of money to do it. 'So I was torn between 'I know, I've got to do this but I know you're there.' 'I tried my best and honestly finishing eighth last season having sold all the players that we did sell was one of my proudest achievements — and doing it with my brothers was pretty special. 'But as draining as that period was, I grew as a person too, which was the most interesting.'
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Will Still on Sky Sports presenter girlfriend's illness: I had to come home
Will Still recalls last season: 'I was going to games and travelling back and forth and thinking 'I shouldn't be stood on this training pitch. I don't even know why I'm here',' he admits. Not because he did not want to coach the French Ligue 1 side Lens. And not because he had become disillusioned with the game. No, it was because Still's partner Emma Saunders was in England with serious health issues. The Sky Sports presenter was fighting to recover from encephalitis, a brain infection, having already been diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year. 'I needed to be closer to home and ultimately Emma is home,' Still says. The situation played a significant role in him leaving Lens and European football and finally taking a job in England as Southampton's new head coach. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma Saunders (@emmasaunds) Still was born and raised in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium, where his English parents moved for his father's job with Shell. Still may regard himself as English but he has never worked or lived here beyond a spell studying at Myerscough College in Lancashire when he was 17. 'I am English, my parents are English. But you notice when you feel you've been away for 32 years!' Still says. It was in Preston that he learnt English football phrases such as 'man on' and got a taste for wanting to return. 'By the end of it, I was like, 'God, English football is the place to be. It's where the most things happen',' Still says. 'And we were playing Stockport reserves and people turned up to watch that game – like a lot of people. It's like 'why are you coming to watch a bunch of college players playing Stockport reserves?'' Remarkably, as he mentioned, Still is only 32. He has however already forged a reputation as one of Europe's most exciting young coaches with an extraordinary list of achievements. He was an assistant in the Belgian top flight at Standard Liège aged 22 and a head coach in the Belgian second division at 24, becoming the youngest ever at a professional club in Europe. At 30 he was the head coach of Reims in France – the youngest in the top five European leagues – and then he led Lens to eighth last season. 'It was tough. I'm not going to pretend that it wasn't difficult,' he says of the last campaign, given that he was juggling helping Emma with leading a big club that had sold some of their best players. It helped that his two brothers, Edward and Nicolas, were on his coaching staff. 'I was lucky that Ed and Nico were there; that I had my brothers and they knew exactly what was going on. I knew Ed has been a head coach and could just do it,' Still says. 'And the first bit in September, with the cancer, it was like, 'Will just go away, you shouldn't be here'. But I kept it to two days a week. If there was a day off on a Monday I would stay the Tuesday and come back on the Wednesday to prepare the game. But I won't miss the Eurostar! As good as their service is!' Just how emotionally demanding was it? 'I think what was difficult was not saying anything. At the start I was like 'no, I don't want to say anything. I'll tell it to the players, but I don't want people talking about it'. But actually that's not the right thing to do,' Still says. 'As soon as you do open up people go 'I'll give you a bit of time and space to be just a human being'. And you just realise that there are much more important things than football. Football's great and it pays the bills and it's what I love doing. But those first three or four weeks – the two weeks the first time and the two weeks the next time – it's not that important. 'It was draining and then it was an honest conversation with Emma when I had to say 'I actually need to be at the football club as well because it is my job and people are paying me a lot of money to do it'. 'Obviously she understood. So, you're torn between 'I know, I've got to do this – and I know you're there'. I just tried to do my best and honestly finishing eighth in Ligue 1 last season having sold all the players was one of my proudest achievements and doing it with my brothers was pretty special. Draining – but I grew as a person.' Thankfully, Saunders is recovering and Still reveals that she has now returned to Sky. 'She's getting a lot better. There's still the odd thing here and there that aren't quite right,' he says. 'And just the fact of being able to go home, to her, means she feels better about it and she's more in control. So, she's getting there.' 'There is a possibility to build something here' Even so, joining Southampton was ultimately a career choice – even if he has had to do so without his brothers as Nico, now assistant manager of Belgian club Gent, has just become a father and Ed's wife is due to give birth. He is an assistant at Anderlecht. 'My gut feeling takes a lot of ownership of what I do and it was just like 'this feels right'. I could see myself being here for a good period of time and trying to do things well,' Still says. 'I'd also said that when I do come back to England, I really want it to be the right people, the right environment, the right players, the right project. And not in an arrogant way. 'I could have come back last year [Sunderland were among the clubs after him]. I could have come back before that but it was 'it's not quite there, it's not quite ready'.' Southampton were relegated to the Championship in their first season back in the top flight, with just 12 points – only one more than the worst ever total recorded in the division. There is work to do. Not least in rebuilding a shell-shocked squad. 'We need to get back to the Premier League. In a realistic way we want to do it this year. I've been told if it's not this year, then it probably has to be next year,' Still explains. 'But that's what I want. I want to be competitive. I want to be challenging myself, challenging people around me. I was looking at footage yesterday of when Poch [Mauricio Pochettino] was here. That was a seriously good Southampton team. 'And there is potential to do that again. To build something not just over this year but over the next two or three years and the possibility and opportunity is there.' What made him look at that particular Southampton side? 'What Saints fans want to see, what got them excited, what style of football, what brand of player. And with the transfer window still being open, we can still adjust that and go to certain profiles,' Still says. 'Players are important. But the people themselves are important too. I don't want massive egos or lazy footballers to come in just because it's Southampton.' His message to the squad has been equally direct. 'Enjoy it. Forget the past. I know how difficult that was and you can still see it, feel it,' Still says. 'Details like in games where things go wrong, because things are going to go wrong. You see the sort of [sharp intake of breathe] and how it asphyxiates people. And I'd rather be totally transparent and honest than say: 'Oh, it's OK'. 'Well, it's not OK. If it's not OK, you can say it's not OK. And that's what we are trying to install, trying to get right. But I do realise where we are. That page is there and we just want to sort of flick it that way and start the new season.' 'Not many people in Belgium are ginger' Man-management is key. So where did such a young coach learn to deal with that? 'The first year in Reims it was 13 or 14 different nationalities in the team,' Still says. 'So, over the years I've sort of been exposed to different people, cultures, looks... I'm not the best, I've got f---ing ginger hair! 'Growing up in a family with five kids was a start to that. And being number four… My parents said it was: 'Oh, nothing. The last one's the golden kid. And number four, you... happen!' 'Again, growing up in Belgium, not many people are ginger and speak English. So, you have to adapt to people. You have to try to learn what they are like, what they like, what they talk about, what music they listen to; to be able to integrate into their world. 'I've always stuck out like a sore thumb. So, you try and make people just treat you as normal. I'll do that and then people think: 'Oh, you're all right.' And I know with the world the way it is, people just expect it to happen. And it's like 'oh, social media told us that you can do it'. Well, yeah, but there's a bit more to it than that.' That is partly in reference to Still's backstory which has lit up social media over the years. He dreamed of being a centre-half as a kid but the highest level he achieved was in the reserve team at Mons in Belgium. However, he was determined to work in the sport, at any level, with the computer game Football Manager becoming an outlet, even if his use of it has become overblown. 'I know people get excited about the Football Manager story. I wasn't quite sitting behind my computer and then dumped on to a pitch then was really good at it!' he says. 'The question back then was: 'Do you play video games?' I was, like, 'of course I play video games. Everyone plays video games'. They then asked 'what do you play? Fifa? Football Manager?' And it just went from there. I'm just a normal person.' "I just got branded the football manager, who learnt it all on Football Manager" 😅 Will Still talks about how he learnt his trade as a manager 👇 — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 21, 2025 He is also, he admits, a very bad loser. 'The 24 hours after I lose, Emma hates it. We're trying to get to a stage where she asks the right questions and she doesn't just say 'Are you all right?' Of course, I'm not all right. I lost a game of football!' Still says. 'I'm still working on that bit. The hardest thing is talking to the press. People want answers: 'Why have you lost?' 'I don't know, give me five minutes'… even in a friendly. We lost to Espanyol. It was winding the s--- out of me. We've lost it on an individual mistake and then a penalty that never should have been. I know exactly what it is, but knowing it irritates me even more.' 'The French never understood cricket' It raises the question: how does he switch off? 'I tell you what – and this is the one thing that the French never understood: watching cricket. I love cricket. I'd love to be able to play again,' he says, having represented Belgium Under-16s – with his brother Ed – as a fast bowler. Even so it cannot compete with football – and Still's intense love of the game and determination to succeed. 'I love stupid things like the boots and the kit. And you know, when I got here, you get three sets of kit, and you always look at it and you start thinking … 'new kit day, isn't it?'' he says, laughing ahead of the Championship kick-off on Saturday at home to newly promoted Wrexham. 'Just the grass being wet. It's got cones on it. It's beautiful. Unbelievable,' Still adds, wistfully. 'And that moment when the players have walked out on to the pitch and you can hear the crowd but you can't quite hear them and the light then appears and you think 'oh yeah, here we go. This is unbelievable'. I can't even describe… and I don't know why… it's just always been there.'
The Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
‘I was torn' – Will Still reveals how Sky Sports host fiancee's illness saw him trade Champions League for Southampton
WILL STILL has been an Englishman living abroad almost his entire life but decided this summer home is where the heart is. The new Southampton boss today opens up about how he could not bear being away any longer from his partner, Sky Sports presenter Emma Saunders. 9 9 She has had a harrowing year — first fighting thyroid cancer before being sent into a coma with the viral brain infection encephalitis. Still, 32, did a lot of to-ing and fro-ing across the Channel while working at previous clubs Reims and Lens to be with his sweetheart. The Belgian-born boss, son of English parents, has steadily built a reputation as one of Europe's sharpest young football minds since coaching aged 17 — but always dreamed of managing on these shores. And after guiding Lens to eighth in Ligue 1 last season during his partner's health battles he wanted to 'come home' and the Southampton job presented itself. He said: 'I moved here for both personal and professional reasons. Every normal person wants to either play or coach in the Premier League because it's the highest competition. 'I'd been in French football for four seasons and met Emma two-and-a-half years ago. 'Then when she got seriously ill last year, I felt as much as I love football there are sometimes more important things in life. 'I was going to games, travelling back and forth, thinking, 'I shouldn't be standing on this training pitch. I don't even know why I'm here.' 'I needed to be closer to home and ultimately Emma is home. 'And, in terms of football, I only wanted to take a job here that was right for me — with the right people, environment, players and project. Southampton was the one and it's all geared to returning to the Premier League.' Former Premier League boss Ivan Juric in hospital after 'serious' problem with airways Still first got talking to Saunders on social media and they met at various events before dating and a romance blossomed. And he became a regular user of the Eurostar so he could share stolen moments with his girlfriend in St Albans — while his brothers Ed and Nico, also coaches, took care of business for him in France. But Still told SunSport he felt 'emotionally drained' during her health battles. He said: 'I'm not going to pretend it wasn't tough but was lucky my brothers Ed and Nico were also working at Lens. 9 9 9 9 'They knew exactly what was going on. Ed had been a head coach so could just do it. 'And when Emma got the cancer news in September, he was like, 'Will, just go away, you shouldn't be here.' 'But I kept coming to the UK two days a week. If there was a day off on a Monday I'd stay Tuesday and come back Wednesday to prepare for the game. But I won't miss the Eurostar — as good as that service is!' Still had initially opted not to go public about his partner's health problems — but soon realised it was taking too much of a toll. He said: 'It was too difficult not saying anything. At the start I was like 'I don't want to say anything. I'll tell it to the players, but I don't want people talking about it.' 'But that's not the right thing to do. As soon as you open up, people go, 'I'll give you a bit of time and space to be just a human being.' And you then realise there are much more important things than football. 'Football's great, pays the bills and it's what I love doing. But those first weeks, when Emma was diagnosed with cancer and then the brain infection in March, made it not that important. 'It was draining because I also needed to be at Lens as that was my job and people were paying me a lot of money to do it. 'So I was torn between 'I know, I've got to do this but I know you're there.' 'I tried my best and honestly finishing eighth last season having sold all the players that we did sell was one of my proudest achievements — and doing it with my brothers was pretty special. 'But as draining as that period was, I grew as a person too, which was the most interesting.' Thankfully Saunders has been on the mend after getting excellent health care and with Still by her side is much happier. The TV presenter returned to work last Saturday and it is hoped she will once again start becoming a regular face on our screens this coming season. Still said: 'She's getting a lot better. There's still the odd thing here and there that isn't quite right. 'But she has gone back into work for the first time in a very long while so that's good. 'And just the fact I can go home to her after my training and games means she feels better about everything — and now has more control. She's getting there.' Still was inspired to go into coaching after whiling away the hours playing the video games Championship Manager and Football Manager as a kid. But he downplayed the significance of the games, teaching him anything about tactics, formations or working in a pressure-cooker environment as a real Championship manager. He said: 'It didn't form my perspective or make me understand tactics better. "You know what that game is like, you can play any system in the world, tweak it slightly and win the Champions League with Rochdale!' So far Southampton have signed striker Damion Downs from Cologne and centre-half Joshua Quarshie from Hoffenheim. Still takes over a club that could only rack up 12 points in the Premier League last season as they crashed straight back down into the second rung. But he wants to bring back the good times and has been inspired by watching Saints videos from Mauricio Pochettino's time in charge between January 2013 and May 2014, He said: 'I spoke to him last week because he is managing Damian Downs with the national team, He wished me luck. 'He had a seriously good team here — one that got Saints fans excited with the style of football and brand of player. There's potential to do that again over the next two or three years. 'With the transfer window open we can adjust that and go for certain profiles. I don't want massive egos or lazy footballers. 'So it's like, what has worked, what can work, what should work, and how we can mould that into something moving forward. 'Realistically we want to return to the Premier League this year — but I've been told if not it probably has to be next year." 9
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Will Still appointed as new Southampton boss after leaving Lens and returning to the UK to be with his ill Sky Sports presenter girlfriend
Southampton have confirmed the appointment of Will Still as their new manager, with the Englishman signing a three-year deal. Still recently left French side Lens and succeeds Ivan Juric, who left the Saints in April after their Premier League relegation was confirmed. The move comes after the 32-year-old announced last week that he was returning to England to be closer to his partner Emma Saunders. The pair were in attendance at St Mary's as Southampton hosted Arsenal in their final game of the campaign and Still was seen shaking hands with Mikel Arteta. Saunders - a presenter and matchday reporter for Sky Sports - was treated for thyroid cancer at the start of the current season and is now recovering from a brain infection called encephalitis. Still, who became the youngest coach in Europe's top five leagues, when he joined Ligue 1 side Reims in October 2022, has gained rave reviews for the work he has done during his early managerial career at Lierse and Beerschot in Belgium and latterly at Reims and Lens in France. Southampton will hope to bounce straight back up from the Championship next season in Still's first season in charge. After signing for the club, Still said: 'There is huge potential here and we have a great opportunity to do something special. 'The project that has been laid out to me is very impressive and, all together, I believe we can build a clear identity and a very positive future for the team. 'I'm eager to get to work this summer and start building a close-knit group that can make everyone proud and ultimately get us back to where we belong; in the Premier League.' Group technical director Johannes Spors added: 'Will is a young, innovative manager who has already gained significant experience, and we have been extremely impressed both by his track record and our conversations with him. 'What was very apparent in our discussions was the clarity of his philosophy and the identity he wants his teams to have, but also his willingness and ability to adapt to different situations as they present themselves, which will be an important quality in the Championship next season. 'We were very impressed by his personality and his values, and we feel he will be an excellent fit for the culture we are looking to build at Staplewood.' Lens released a statement thanking Still for his 'investment' during his spell at the club and said he 'embodied the values of RCL through his resilience and his passionate and authentic personality' They also confirmed that his brothers, Edward and Nicolas, will leave the club. Still has won 55 of his 127 games as a manager and his record has made him one of the most highly rated young English managers out there. He has been linked with returning to England over the past few years and had come close to joining Sunderland last summer. Southampton, who were also linked with Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl, have been searching for a new manager since Ivan Juric was sacked last month, with Simon Rusk having assumed interim charge for the rest of the campaign. Meanwhile, explaining his decision to depart Lens last week after their final game of the campaign - a 4-0 home win over Monaco - Still revealed it was due to personal reasons, saying he 'needed to go home'. 'It is a logical choice for me to be closer to my wife,' Still said. 'For her well-being.' 'I won't be the coach of RC Lens next season. It was the last season at Bollaert, for multiple reasons. The main reason that pushed me to make this decision is the fact that I need to go home. Everyone is well aware of what happened in my life. That's why. 'I had a lot of fun, I think we achieved great things despite everything. I've been in France for four years, four years that I've experienced intense moments.' Saunders had attended the final game and posted a picture alongside her boyfriend on the pitch after the match with the caption: 'Bravo @wrstill.' Still went viral a few years ago when he became the youngest manager in Europe's top five leagues as the boss of Reims in France at the age of 30. During his time at Reims, the club had to pay £22,000 every time he took charge of a game because he did not have a UEFA Pro Licence. His journey into coaching was partly inspired by his passion for the video game 'Football Manager', which encouraged him to switch his playing career for management when he was 17. On the other hand, his partner Saunders has been a big voice for fronting women's football on BBC Sport, alongside her work at Sky. Seen as a trailblazer for women's broadcasting in sport and football, she's also worked as a stadium presenter for major sporting events including England internationals, the World Cup, Six Nations Rugby matches, and the first-ever MLB game in the UK. However, Saunders posted a picture to her Instagram account from her hospital bed in March, explaining her situation to her 71,500 followers and thanking her English manager boyfriend in a heartwarming post. She began dating Still last year and the duo went public with their relationship during Euro 2024. The Saints have been looking for a new manager since sacking Ivan Juric last month Holding a stuffed giraffe teddy, she opened up on her recent condition and fans and colleagues flooded the comments section with messages of support. The caption read: 'Hi folks. Unfortunately life took a bit of an unexpected turn a couple of weeks ago and I'm now off work while I recover from Encephalitis - an infection of the brain. 'I hope it won't be long until I'm back to see out the end of 2024/25 – especially after missing part of the start of the season before this when I was treated for Thyroid cancer. 'So, as I spend time now recovering and rebuilding again - I just wanted to thank my family & friends for their rock solid support, my colleagues at Sky for their patience allowing me the time to heal, and our wonderful NHS for their extraordinary kindness and care. And of course you Will Still just for being you & being there for me.'
