Hannah Dingley: 'I had a security detail, it's something I've never had before'

Long before she made history and headlines by taking charge of an English Football League side, Hannah Dingley knew she wanted to be a football coach – even if she was not allowed to play the game herself at secondary school.

Dingley started coaching a men’s team at the age of 17 in the small seaside village of Llansteffan near Carmarthen in south west Wales.

That – and a gritty work experience placement at Swansea City’s old Vetch Field ground – inspired a coaching journey that led to her becoming the first woman to manage a professional men’s team in England when she took charge of Forest Green Rovers in July 2023.