All of this week's featured winners will be FA guests at  Wembley Stadium on 13 October when England face Estonia and today sees TheFA.Com meet up with Leicester City Ladies' Mary Rudkin...

Hope Powell might be the most well known female football coach in the country but hot on her heels is Leicester City Ladies’ Mary Rudkin who has won the 2007 FA National Charter Standard Coach of the Year Award.

Mary has been coaching on the Midlands grassroots scene for over 12 years and, just like Hope, has worn an England shirt in competitive action: “I played a few international games when I was 19 and the highlight was probably against Sweden at Leicester’s old Filbert Street ground which was just a brilliant experience,” remembers the 47-year-old.

Disability Football has always been high on Mary’s agenda at Leicester City Ladies and the Football Development Officer is a big supporter of The FA’s Football for All initiative: “It’s a great challenge to work with Special Needs players but it’s also very rewarding and I always look forward to the coaching sessions. They can be very competitive as well because everyone is so determined to win.

“Luckily, we have a great set of volunteers at the club because I just couldn’t do it on my own.”

Mary has been an inspiration to local coaches and was the only female to pass her Level Three coaching badge on a predominantly male course last year: “I didn’t feel uncomfortable or intimidated and all the guys were brilliant. I went with the attitude that I’m a football coach and equal to everyone there so it was fantastic to pass and get the Level Three under my belt.”

Football talk dominates in the Rudkin household and Mary admits that her husband is often outnumbered around the dinner table: “Our three daughters all play so we leave him exasperated at times as we’re always chatting about games or upcoming coaching sessions. But he’s always been very supportive and delighted that I’ve won the National Award.”

Female football has received plenty of national headlines over the last month with the World Cup in China and Mary was glued to the TV when Hope Powell’s side were in action on the BBC: “It was great to see England reach the quarter finals as the team are positive role models for girls wanting to get involved and play the game.”

“I watched the England U19 female team play on TV a while back as well and there’s some good players coming through from that side as well which is great for the future.”

Mary’s advice for up and coming coaches looking to follow in her footsteps is simple: “If you want to get into coaching then get yourself involved with a local club and work with the youngsters on a regular basis.

“You can learn so much from other people which is great if you’re a new coach because it’s all about knowledge and experience.”