Watford Women’s Development Team head coach Renee Hector is one of seven coaches that has been chosen to join the England national side’s elite coach programme.

The programme is jointly owned by The FA and the PFA as part of a shared commitment to develop greater equality of coaching opportunities and increase the diversity of coaches working in the game.

It’s designed to give successful applicants the essential experience, skills and knowledge to obtain roles in elite and national coaching and technical roles in football in the future.

Hector is one of the seven female coaches from across the game who were successful within the application process and she will now work with the England Under-17 teams.

All seven coaches will be embedded with their respective technical coaching teams and enjoy an active role throughout the 2023-24 season, assisting with the delivery of coaching sessions and participating in technical meetings before, during and after each international camp.

This will provide them with the opportunity to gain vital knowledge, understanding and skills through learning and development opportunities.

Hector re-joined the Golden Girls as a player in February 2020, signing from Charlton Athletic.

Having started her career at Watford, she made more than 50 appearances for the club, and was part of the team that finished second in 2012/13, which led to a place in the newly-formed WSL 2.

She left to join Tottenham Hotspur in 2016 and helped them to Women’s Super League promotion.

With a serious injury forcing her out of action and onto the sidelines, Hector took up a coaching within the Watford Development Team, assisting then Head Coach Jo Williams before being appointed to her current role in June 2023.

• Defender Katie Reid, who has signed for Watford this season on dual registration from Arsenal, played the full 90 minutes as England Under-19s beat Greece 2-0 to make a winning start to the European Women Under-19s Championship qualifying campaign.