Valdas Dambrauskas Leads Sabah to Champions League at Old Trafford

 On Thursday night, Valdas Dambrauskas will walk out at Old Trafford as manager of Sabah in the Champions League, completing a narrative arc two decades in the making.

The 49-year-old Lithuanian tactician took his initial steps into coaching with Manchester United Soccer Schools 20 years ago. Returning to the iconic stadium at the pinnacle of European football feels surreal.

"This is beyond my imagination," Dambrauskas told BBC Sport. "To go through that tunnel on to that pitch. I've been many times to Old Trafford with the kids, and now I'm going to come as a coach."

Yet entering the iconic venue as an opposing manager is only part of a larger story. It is a journey that originated on a Lithuanian television studio set, where a quiz show victory provided the initial springboard for a career in football management.

Dambrauskas funded his move to London after appearing on the Lithuanian edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. That decision kicked off years of relentless hustle, casual labour, and a globe-trotting coaching career that eventually brought him to Azerbaijan and into Europe's elite club competition.

How a Game Show Breakthrough Funded a Dream

As Sabah's squad and backroom staff celebrated their historical qualification for the Champions League group phase two weeks ago, Dambrauskas unexpectedly went viral on social media.

The online frenzy stemmed from his 2002 appearance on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The focal point was not merely his appearance on screen, but how he deployed his earnings.

"This is so long ago," Dambrauskas said with a wry smile. "A back-in-the-year story that really was forgotten. And now suddenly everybody is speaking about this."

He walked away with 4,000 litas—roughly £725—which equalled six months of average wages in Lithuania at the time. Rather than spending it on short-term luxuries, he invested the funds into his professional coaching ambitions.

"Everybody now takes only this part, you know, about the money," Dambrauskas noted. "But yes, it is a true story. 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."

Multi-Tasking and Building Credentials in London

Realising at age 12 that he lacked the technical ability to turn professional as a player, Dambrauskas pivoted toward coaching to stay connected to the game. He landed in London in August 2002 at 25 on a student visa with basic English skills.

Over the next eight years, he juggled multiple jobs, raised two children, and built his resume from scratch. In 2004, he enrolled in a sports science and coaching program at London Metropolitan University. He volunteered with the Access to Sports Project for disadvantaged children in Finsbury Park before joining London Tigers, a charitable organization managing youth to semi-professional sides.

Over five seasons at London Tigers, Dambrauskas worked his way up to manage the senior team in non-league football across the Spartan South Midlands League, FA Cup, and FA Vase. He also became the first Lithuanian coach to earn a UEFA licence via the London Football Association.

"I went on every possible course, every possible conference, London Football Coaches Association meetings," Dambrauskas recalled. "Everywhere I could go just to gain some information, some knowledge, some extra diploma, extra course. That was very important for me and I took my chances."

His big break in the professional realm arrived in 2004 when Manchester United Soccer Schools appointed him. He spent five years leading residential courses across the UK and Europe.

"That was the best thing that could happen in my life," Dambrauskas said. "I went through three or four interviews. I will be forever grateful to John Shiels, the way he gave me this chance, because I didn't have experience."

Following a brief stint with Fulham, he joined Brentford, citing academy director Ose Aibangee as a formative influence. All the while, financial necessity required endless shift work.

"I was a gardener, a handyman, doing newspaper rounds at the beginning, also polishing floors in a pub," he said. "So many jobs. Working in retail, and then as a sports development officer, then a sports development manager, and the central YMCA. I was doing two, three, sometimes four jobs."

The upcoming fixture list holds additional sentiment: after Manchester United, Sabah travel to face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in January. London Metropolitan University's Holloway Road campus directly overlooked the Emirates during his study years.

"When I hear this word 'England', it for me sounds like opportunities," Dambrauskas added. "It was really amazing. England gave me all this and I'll forever be grateful."

Collecting Trophies Across Five European Nations

At the end of 2010, Dambrauskas stepped away from his three concurrent jobs in England to accept a full-time role as assistant first-team and reserve coach at Lithuanian champions Ekranas.

After four years, Zalgiris Vilnius named him head coach. Across three seasons, he claimed two league titles, three Lithuanian Cups, and two Lithuanian Super Cups—highlighted by a domestic treble in 2016.

That success ignited a nomadic decade managing eight clubs across seven countries. He lifted the Latvian Cup with RFS, managed Gorica in Croatia, and captured a Bulgarian league title, Super Cup, and Europa League berth with Ludogorets Razgrad. Returning to Croatia with Hajduk Split, he delivered the Croatian Cup—the club's first trophy in a decade. Subdued spells followed at OFI Crete, Omonia in Cyprus, and Diosgyori in Hungary.

In summer 2025, Dambrauskas took charge of Sabah as the 10th club of his managerial trajectory. He secured a domestic league and cup double in his debut campaign, clinching Sabah's first-ever league crown and taking his career total to 13 trophies across five nations.

Navigating the Champions League Odyssey

Sabah's route to the Champions League proper required surviving four qualification rounds. They stand as the sole club in the competition to advance all the way from the first qualifying round, eliminating TNS, KuPS, Aarhus, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva.

The final qualifier produced dramatic action. Trailing late, Tellur Mutallimov scored in the fourth minute of injury time to force extra time, where Sabah sealed a 5-2 second-leg win and a 6-4 aggregate victory.

"To go to the Champions League is something beyond imagination," Dambrauskas said. "We have never qualified for the Conference League, we have never qualified for the Europa League. We have never passed more than two rounds in a row in one competition, and now suddenly we are here."

Founded in 2017, the club is based in Masazir, a town of 19,000 residents located 30 miles north of Baku. Known as the Owls, Sabah's 9,000-capacity Bank Respublika Arena does not meet UEFA standards, shifting home games against Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, and Napoli to Baku's Olympic Stadium.

"It can be a very hard draw, and it can be a Sabah draw," Dambrauskas noted. "You dream for this, to play in this competition, to play against those teams. So now is the time to show that you can handle it."

Sabah president Magsud Adigozalov highlighted the manager's transformative effect: "His influence goes beyond tactics. He has instilled a mindset and winning mentality in the team."

Two decades after gazing across Old Trafford during job interviews, Dambrauskas stands ready on the sideline. Can his side test Europe's heavyweights on the grandest stage?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cvgy8w548yyo