Tony Leighton: When you were appointed you were the youngest ever person to manage an England team, men’s or women’s. Was that daunting and, as you were advised to retire from playing at the same time, was it a difficult decision to take the job?"

Hope Powell: "I was 31 years old and felt my playing days were coming to an end, so the decision to retire as a player was easier than the one to take the job. When the FA asked me in for an interview I thought it was maybe to work with the Under 18 team, which was the only national youth side we had at the time, but they offered me the role as National Coach and, although I tried not to show it, I was in shock!

"I said I wanted seven days to consider it, but when I told my friends what I’d been offered they said I had to take the job or they’d kill me! That threat wasn’t the reason I said yes to the job, in fact it was some words from Kelly Simmons [Head of National Football Development at the FA] that finally persuaded me. Kelly said that if I didn’t take the job I’d probably go on playing for England a bit longer but would look at the manager and think ‘I could be doing that job.’ She was right – and so take the job I did."

TL: "Up to that point you had been playing in an England side that had disappointingly fallen away after reaching the 1995 World Cup quarter-finals. How did you go about arresting the decline and setting the national team back on an upward curve?" HP: "The ‘decline,’ as you call it, was probably inevitable because we were an ageing team. A number of us were in our 30s and there seemed to be very few young players coming through, so that was one of the first issues I addressed, along with getting the right staff around me and making any changes I thought were necessary to improve the whole of the national set-up. Getting the team into the shape I wanted wasn’t easy and it took a while, but the point came where we had to bite the bullet and give the youngsters their chance." "The starkest example of that process was the 8-0 hammering we took in Norway in 2000. I left older players like Gill Coultard and Karen Walker on the substitutes’ bench and put youngsters like Katie Chapman and Rachel Unitt in the starting line-up. I knew we’d get hammered but, hard though it was, we had to go through that transitional period to get to where we are today."

TL: "Where we are today is arguably as good a position as England women have ever been in. The seniors reached last year’s World Cup quarter-finals and are on course to qualify for Euro 2009, while the Under 20s and Under 17s are both set to play in their respective World Cups towards the end of this year. You must feel that those achievements make your first 10 years as National Coach a big success?"

HP: "I’m happy with the progress we’ve made but I’m certainly not satisfied. Euro 2005 was a major turning point for the senior side – we didn’t go as far as we’d have liked but in terms of competing with the top nations it set the bar at a different level. We upped it again at the World Cup last year so we’re on the right track, but there’s always the danger that you might plateau and dip and we have to make sure that doesn’t happen.

"At the different age group levels, having been involved in the expansion of the structure and the formation of the National Player Development Centre at Loughborough University, I’m pleased with the developments in those areas and delighted that we’ve qualified for the Under 20 and Under 17 World Cups. We have some excellent players coming through and hopefully we can produce a continuing conveyor belt of talent."

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Quick Questions

TL: "What has been your team’s best performance to date?" HP: "The 1-1 draw with France that clinched our qualification for the 2007 World Cup finals. It wasn’t so much the football we played but the way the players handled the massive pressure of the occasion. We were up against the group favourites on their territory and with a massive backing for them compared to our few – although very vocal – fans. I thought our players were magnificent and I was extremely proud of them."

TL: "What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve been asked to do as England coach?"

HP: "I was asked to bite into a big baguette for the press photographers before a 2003 World Cup qualifier against France. Very silly."

“Funny, that,” I replied as all my friends broke into a fit of the giggles."

TL: "Who has been your biggest influence in your role?"

HP: "Howard Wilkinson [the former FA Technical Director]. He appointed me and was superb with his advice and support. He had great ideas about the development of the women’s game and backed me wherever he possibly could. For instance it was Howard who kick-started initiatives like the conditioning programmes that are now part and parcel of the England set-up."