Sabah will visit Old Trafford on Thursday, returning Valdas Dambrauskas to English soil as a Champions League coach and completing a circle that began with a modest television prize. The 49-year-old Lithuanian used 4,000 litas, about £725, from an appearance on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2002 to move to London and pursue coaching qualifications that shaped his career.
Arriving in August 2002 on a student visa with limited English, Dambrauskas spent years studying and volunteering while supporting his family with multiple jobs. He enrolled on a sports science and coaching course at London Metropolitan University in 2004, coached children in Finsbury Park for the Access to Sports Project and progressed through community sides including London Tigers, where he eventually managed the first team in non-league competitions.
He became the first Lithuanian to obtain a Uefa coaching licence through the London Football Association, and his first professional break came when Manchester United Soccer Schools hired him in 2004. Dambrauskas spent five years with the United programme, working on residential courses around the UK and Europe. Subsequent roles included a short spell with Fulham and work at Brentford, where he credits academy director Ose Aibangee with pushing his development.
Dambrauskas describes the early years as a grind, listing jobs that kept the household afloat: gardener, handyman, newspaper rounds, polishing pub floors, retail work, and roles as a sports development officer and manager. "I was doing two, three, sometimes four jobs," he said. He added that attention on the game-show money has overshadowed the broader arc of his coaching journey, saying, "Everybody now takes only this part, you know, about the money."
His nomadic managerial career across Europe has yielded tangible success, including leading Hajduk Split to the Croatian Cup in 2021-22 and collecting 13 trophies across five countries. Now at the helm of Azerbaijani club Sabah, Dambrauskas will not only walk the Old Trafford tunnel he once watched young players enter but will also return to London later in the Champions League group stage, with Sabah due to finish their campaign at Arsenal in January.
For Dambrauskas, England remains a defining influence. "When I hear this word 'England', it for me sounds like opportunities," he said. "It was really amazing. England gave me all this and I'll forever be grateful."
