Award winning Football Coach and Sporting Equals ambassador Annie Zaidi has joined a growing list of clients at our partnership with Green and Gold.

Annie added the Neville Hamilton special award at the Leicester Mercury Sports Awards at the Leicester Tigers stadium last night to a growing list of accolades as she is increasingly recognised for her remarkable journey.

The Ground-breaking football coach Annie Zaidi also won a top accolade at the 2015 Sky Sportswomen of the Year Awards.

She was awarded the Hellen Rollason prize for inspiration at the London ceremony in December 2015.

David Beckham told the star studded event in a video message that Annie was "an inspiration to so many people".

Annie, is the only Muslim woman football coach in the east midlands.

She has overcome years of sexist and racial abuse to pursue her goals. She currently coaches the under 11s at the Leicester City Girls' of Excellence at Oadby..

But as a life-long Arsenal supporter she has her eyes set on the top coaching job at the Emirates Stadium.

Annie, 31, won the award which is named after Hellen Rollason a pioneering television sports journalist.

The citation for the award said: "Annie Zaidi is the first South Asian and Muslim woman in her region to acquire a Level 2 coaching certification badge from the Football Association.

"When she was the only female manager of a Sunday league team in her area, Zaidi endured overwhelming levels of discrimination from opposition team managers and parents. "However, despite the abuse and lack of inclusion, she did not abandon her dreams, maintaining her passion to coach football."

She has just competed her spell in West London coaching the Under 21 men's team at Queen's Park Rangers.

She sees her time with QPR as a great step towards her goal of one day becoming a coach in the professional men's game.

With the support of QPR director Les Ferdinand and the former Rangers manager Chris Ramsey, she has undertaken her UEFA B licence.

Zaidi said she coached at QPR every week and told the boys how it was really done.

She added: "I'm hoping to get my UEFA B licence done at the end of this year.

"My ultimate job in football? "Well that would be to coach the Arsenal men's team maybe."

The winner of the Sportswoman of the Year title was Jessica Ennis-Hill for winning the world heptathlon title in the summer.

Andy said "We are delighted to be working with Annie as she is an inspiration to together because of her football coaching skills and her determination to succeed in her ambitions. I am sure we will see much more of her in the years ahead in the game. Already she has a busy year ahead and we want to make sure she is available to be an inspiration but at the same time manage her time to make sure she completes her UEFA B License and completes her dream to coach at a senior level.