How quiz-show winnings kick-started coach’s career – with Old Trafford next
How quiz-show winnings kick-started coach's career – with Old Trafford next. The Lithuanian's career will come full circle, some 20 years since he made his first steps into coaching with Manchester United Soccer Schools.
What happened
Now his coaching career will return to where it started. "I've been many times to Old Trafford with the kids, and now I'm going to come as a coach. It begins with an appearance on the Lithuanian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? , Dambrauskas using his modest winnings to move to London and forge a career in football. It is a tale of casual jobs, a determination to succeed and a nomadic coaching career across Europe – which now brings the 49-year-old back to England in the Champions League with the Azerbaijani club.
For Dambrauskas, the real story should be his career and not a game show. In 2004 he enrolled on a course in sports science and coaching at London Metropolitan University, the first real step in his career. Then he started out coaching by volunteering with the Access to Sports Project for deprived children in Finsbury Park.
The wider picture
Lithuanian coach Valdas Dambrauskas cut his teeth in English football, and now returns in the Champions League with Sabah. Figure caption, Sabah's Valdas Dambrauskas looks ahead to Manchester United and Arsenal gamesByDale JohnsonFootball issues correspondentPublished9 hours agoOn Thursday, Valdas Dambrauskas will walk out at Old Trafford as manager of Sabah in the Champions League. How a game show gave Dambrauskas his breakAs Sabah's players and staff celebrated reaching the Champions League two weeks ago, unbeknownst to Dambrauskas he was becoming a social media star.
Not because he was on the show, but how he spent the money he won. "My idea was somehow I will try to go on these [coaching] courses to gain the coaching badge, maybe go back one day to Lithuania and start to work as a football coach. "What began with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? would map out his whole career. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Valdas Dambrauskas moved to England aged 25, spending six years taking coaching badges and working for clubs 'I was doing two, three, sometimes four jobs'Dambrauskas says he had known since the age of 12 he would not make it as a player, but coaching would keep him close to football.
What followed would be eight years of hard work where he would coach for community projects, at a semi-professional club, within professional youth programmes – and hold down multiple jobs while raising two children.
What has been reported
Dambrauskas became the first Lithuanian to achieve a Uefa coaching licence through the London Football Association. "I went on every possible course, every possible conference, London Football Coaches Association meetings," Dambrauskas said. Dambrauskas spent five years coaching on residential courses in the UK and in Europe. He credits academy director Ose Aibangee as one of the biggest influences on his career, pushing his limits. "From England to 13 trophies in five countriesImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Valdas Dambrauskas led Hajduk Split to success in the Croatian Cup in 2021-22Dambrauskas was working three jobs – at Brentford, London Tigers and as a sports development manager – when the opportunity arose to coach full-time.
It meant leaving England to return to Lithuania, champions Ekranas appointing him assistant first-team and reserve-team coach at the end of 2010. After four years at Ekranas he was named manager of Zalgiris Vilnius, Lithuania's biggest club, where his career really took off. Next up was a spell in Greece with OFI Crete, then Omonia in Cyprus – who qualified for the Conference League – and Diosgyori in Hungary.
What happens next
Finally, in the summer of 2025, he arrived at Sabah, the 10th club of his career. "So now is the time to show that you can handle it, to find a way to compete and we will try to do this. "We have a good team, we have an ambitious team, we have hungry players who are really keen to show themselves. "Even in the most difficult moments, the team never abandons its game or fighting spirit, which is the result of the coach's work.
"Twenty years ago, Dambrauskas looked out over the pitch at Old Trafford during one of his job interviews, dreaming that one day he would stand in one of the dugouts. "Now I'm going to come back as a coach in the Champions League and hear that anthem. "This is beyond my imagination," Dambrauskas told BBC Sport.