The League Managers Association (LMA) is pleased to announce that Hope Powell OBE has accepted honorary membership of the association. Ms Powell is the coach of the England women's national football team and in 2003 became the first woman to achieve the UEFA Pro Licence, the highest coaching award available.

Howard Wilkinson, chairman of the LMA said, "I am delighted that Hope has agreed to join our ranks. The LMA can only benefit from the energy and enthusiasm she so willingly puts into the game and her thoroughly professional methods have earned great respect. The work she has so successfully undertaken with the England women's senior team, together with overseeing all the arrangements from the Under 15's to the Under 21's, certainly deserves the highest recognition".

Hope Powell said, "I'm absolutely thrilled to have received this invitation from the LMA which I see as a very proactive body that is earning an increasingly influential role in the game. I regard it as a great honour and privilege not just for myself but also for women's football in this country. I look forward to being a member and participating fully in the LMA's activities".

Having been appointed as the first full-time national team coach in 1998, Ms Powell has led England to the 2001 European Championship, the quarter finals of the 2005 European Championship, the 2007 World Cup Finals and, last summer, the final of the 2009 European Championship. Her playing career was similarly distinguished; winning 66 England caps and scoring 35 goals as an attacking midfielder. At club level Powell won the FA Women's Cup three times, twice with Millwall Lionesses and including a League and Cup double as captain of Croydon in 1996. In 2002 Powell was appointed OBE and, two years later, was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.