When Renée Hector was getting the football bug as a youngster playing at Stevenage Borough Vixens, she idolised England internationals such as Alex Scott, Rachel Yankey and Anita Asante. But the only black female coach she felt she could relate to was the England manager, Hope Powell. From the moment Hector moved to Watford’s centre of excellence, aged 10, managing the club’s women’s team was her ultimate dream, inspired by Powell, and she fulfilled that ambition this season in her first year in charge of the Women’s National League Premier Division side, at the age of 29.
Hector’s playing career was cut short at 26 by an anterior cruciate ligament injury, but she was determined to turn that into something positive and progress her coaching career faster than expected. Last month, she was recognised on 2024’s Football Black List, which honours the most influential black people in the game. Hector is in elite company in a select list of five alongside the England coach Ashley Cole, Nottingham Forest’s Nuno Espírito Santo, Port Vale’s Darren Moore and the Arsenal and England youth coach Carly Williams.
