Hannah Dingley says FA heading in 'right direction' for female coaches

Burton's academy boss Hannah Dingley believes the FA is going 'in the right direction' in its attempts to get more female coaches working in football.

Dingley, who holds a UEFA A licence, has previously coached at Notts County, Sheffield FC, Nottingham Forest, Leicester and Lincoln Ladies.

The club and the FA are unaware of any other woman that holds a similar coaching role in the Football League and the 33-year-old wants the FA to build on their plans.

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"I know the FA are working on trying to encourage more females to get the higher level coaching qualifications, which will ultimately lead to women being able to apply for jobs like this one," said Dingley, who has over 10 years experience working in men's and women's football.

"I think we can push it further, we can always push it further. 

"We have to understand that it does take time, we can't just give the coaching qualifications away there is a process and they do take years to do. 

"But it's certainly in the right direction in terms of getting more females involved on the coaching ladder and going through the process of getting those badges."

Despite experiencing setbacks, most notably when she was abused for being a female coach by former Northwich manager Lee Ashcroft's in 2013 that saw him handed a 10-match touchline ban and fined £1,200, Dingley insists there are still opportunities for women.

"There's been barriers," the Burton boss added. "I've been very lucky to be at a fantastic club and they take everyone who walks through the door on their own merit, not based on gender or anything else.

"There are clubs like that and organisations like that, so that's really positive.  

"I suppose that's the message that there are opportunities, maybe not as many as we like, but there are opportunities for women to get involved in sport. 

"As much as there are challenges it's a really worthwhile profession to get into. We encourage more girls and women to get involved."