Tuesday 7 February 2017 14:10, UK
QPR technical director Chris Ramsey believes Manisha Tailor is an asset to the west London club and is convinced the academy coach will continue her development in the game.
Tailor is an FA tutor and former Middlesex Centre of Excellence youth-team coach, who took up a foundation-phase coaching role at QPR last year after months of volunteering at the club.
After more than a decade of grassroots coaching and anti-discrimination work with organisations including Kick It Out and Show Racism the Red Card, Tailor was honoured with an MBE for services to football and diversity in sport in the 2017 New Year's Honours List.
"Manisha is a UEFA B Licenced coach who showed a lot of interest in what we are doing at QPR and she came in and proved herself," Ramsey told Sky Sports.
"QPR is a diverse club in a diverse area but as a football club we look for the best people because we have a job to do and the fans still have an expectation about the level of quality coming out of the club.
"We run a top-quality world-class programme at QPR and she wouldn't be in it if she couldn't help us, but it's not a one-way thing and Manisha certainly hasn't been given a token opportunity.
"She is here because she has shown that she has a lot to offer. She is here purely on merit."
Like Ramsey, qualified-head Tailor comes from a teaching background but her journey into football has been very different to the former QPR manager. Tailor began pursuing a career in the game following her twin's diagnosis with depression after realising she could use football as a vehicle for her brother's recovery.
Tailor also runs weekly football sessions at Ryman Premier League club Wingate and Finchley in conjunction with Barnet Voice for Mental Health, and has just been shortlisted for a British Ethnic Diversity Sports Award [BEDSA].
Sponsored by mental health charity Mind, the inaugural BEDSA Wellbeing award recognises the contribution of an individual, project or programme to improving people's mental wellbeing through sport and physical activity.
The award is one of 11 that will be presented at a glittering ceremony hosted by the charity Sporting Equals at the Hilton Park Lane London on March 18.
Nine awards are voted for by the public. To cast your vote visit http://bedsa.co.uk/vote/
