Gemma Donnelly has been on one hell of a journey. And she knows precisely when it first turned in her favour.

It wasn’t in 2019, when the Blackburn Rovers team she leads were finally granted promotion to the FA Women’s Championship – the second tier of English football – after three successive seasons dominating the division below.

It wasn’t even in 2014, when her side narrowly avoided relegation to tier four on the final day of the season, and she vowed to staff “we are never going through that again”.

Her Blackburn Rovers side were twice denied promotion before finally being admitted to the FA Women’s Championship. Boss GEMMA DONNELLY tells Women's Soccer Coaching how she kept her cool - and recalls a rollercoaster of a coaching story

On February 2nd, 2020, Rebecca May’s brief substitute appearance in a Women’s Super League game at Reading made Manchester United history.

The 18-year-old’s five-minute cameo saw her become the first player to graduate through United’s entire youth system, from under-10s, to the fledgling first team.

It was a proud moment for all who knew the teenager - not least Charlotte Healy, the coach in charge of the club’s academy.

Created ‘upside down’, Manchester United had a girls section before there was a women’s first team to graduate into. Academy boss CHARLOTTE HEALY talks to Women's Soccer Coaching about how she has set about joining the dots.