Sports

From Quiz Show Winnings to the Champions League: The Journey of Sabah Coach Valdas Dambrauskas

By Dale Johnson

Valdas Dambrauskas will lead Azerbaijani side Sabah out at Old Trafford against Manchester United in the Champions League, completing a remarkable 20-year journey that began with his first coaching steps at Manchester United Soccer Schools.

"This is beyond my imagination," the 49-year-old Lithuanian told BBC Sport. "I've been many times to Old Trafford with the kids, and now I'm going to come as a coach."

Dambrauskas' path to professional football started in 2002, when he won 4,000 litas (about £725) on the Lithuanian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? - roughly six months' average wages at the time. He used the money to move to London, arriving that August on a student visa with limited English, intending to gain coaching qualifications and eventually return to Lithuania to coach.

What followed was eight years of hard work. In 2004, he enrolled in a sports science and coaching course at London Metropolitan University. He began volunteering with the Access to Sports Project in Finsbury Park before joining London Tigers, a community football organisation, where he progressed over five years from volunteer to first-team manager in the Spartan South Midlands League, FA Cup and FA Vase. He became the first Lithuanian to earn a Uefa coaching licence via the London Football Association.

In 2004, Manchester United Soccer Schools gave him his first professional break, and he spent five years coaching on residential courses in the UK and Europe. He credited the Foundation's chief executive John Shiels for taking a chance on him. He later worked briefly at Fulham before joining Brentford, where academy director Ose Aibangee became a major influence.

Throughout this period, Dambrauskas held multiple jobs simultaneously - as a gardener, handyman, newspaper deliverer, pub floor polisher, retail worker, and sports development officer - while raising two children. "I was doing two, three, sometimes four jobs," he said.

In late 2010, while juggling three jobs including his role at Brentford, he was offered a full-time coaching position back in Lithuania with champions Ekranas as assistant coach. Four years later, he took charge of Zalgiris Vilnius, Lithuania's largest club, where his career flourished. He won two league titles, three Lithuanian Cups and two Super Cups in three seasons, including a treble in 2016.

Over the following nine years, Dambrauskas managed eight clubs across seven countries. He won the Latvian Cup with RFS, coached Gorica in Croatia, then claimed a league title, Super Cup and Europa League qualification with Bulgaria's Ludogorets Razgrad. A return to Croatia with Hajduk Split brought the club's first trophy in a decade. He then had spells with OFI Crete in Greece, Omonia in Cyprus - reaching the Conference League - and Diosgyori in Hungary.

In summer 2025, he joined Sabah, his tenth club, and immediately won the league and cup double, his first domestic title with the club and his 13th trophy across five countries.

Sabah then became the only club to progress through all four qualifying rounds to reach the Champions League group stage, eliminating Wales' TNS, Finland's KuPS, Denmark's Aarhus and Israel's Hapoel Beer-Sheva. The decisive qualifier was dramatic - Sabah appeared to be eliminated until Tellur Mutallimov scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to force extra time, and they went on to win 5-2 on the night, 6-4 on aggregate.

"We have never qualified for the Conference League, we have never qualified for the Europa League," Dambrauskas said. "We have never passed more than two rounds in a row in one competition, and now suddenly we are here."

Sabah are based in Masazir, a town of 19,000 people located 30 miles north of Baku. Founded in 2017, the club - nicknamed the Owls - will mark their ninth anniversary this week. Their home ground, the Bank Respublika Arena, holds fewer than 9,000 spectators and does not meet Uefa standards, meaning home matches will be played at Baku's Olympic Stadium.

In the group stage, Sabah will host Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and Napoli, and travel to Villarreal in addition to their fixtures against Arsenal and Manchester United.

"It can be a very hard draw, and it can be a Sabah draw," Dambrauskas said. "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, 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."

Sabah president Magsud Adigozalov praised the coach's impact, telling Report: "His influence goes beyond tactics. He has instilled a mindset and winning mentality in the team. Even in the most difficult moments, the team never abandons its game or fighting spirit, which is the result of the coach's work."

Dambrauskas recalled watching matches at Old Trafford during a job interview two decades ago, dreaming of one day standing in the dugout. "I lived in England when the battle between Manchester United and Arsenal was the biggest rivalry - Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger," he said. "Now I'm going to come back as a coach in the Champions League and hear that anthem. It's really amazing."