With promotion to the FA Women’s Super League 2 secured, on the top of back-to-back league cups, it’s no wonder Karen Hills and Tottenham Hotspur Ladies are smiling.

Spurs will compete in the second tier of women’s football in England this season after claiming the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division title, before beating Northern champions Blackburn Rovers 3-0 in a play-off.

Hills was given the FA WPL Manager of the Year award on Friday’s FA Women’s Football Awards, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

And while Spurs’ achievements caught the eye last season, Hills says the success is down to a long-term project that looks to take women’s football at the club to a new level.

“It feels amazing – I’m picking up this award on behalf of our club and the rest of the coaching team, as well as the girls, because if it wasn’t for them, I would not be standing here collecting this award,” said Hills, who joined Spurs from Charlton in 2009.

“It’s a big honour to receive it, and now I’ll take it back it cherish it with all the rest of the guys.

“It’s been a bit of a journey, it’s been a process in the last seven or eight years since I took over. We’ve come a very, very long way.

“Tottenham Hotspur FC have been very supporting of the ladies team in recent times, they’ve really pushed us to grow as a ladies team.

“We have worked with the players we’ve had over the last four or five years, they’ve all stuck with us, and we’ve grown into a family, and last year was the icing on the cake.

“We knew we had it in us the previous year, but this year was all about putting it all together, with the facilities we’ve got available to us, and the coaching team that I’ve got – it’s been absolutely tremendous.”

The FA Women’s Football Awards celebrated an exciting year for women’s football and recognised the achievements of clubs, players, staff and the excellent work by volunteers at the grassroots level of the game.

The awards also highlighted the success of The FA’s Gameplan for Growth, launched earlier in 2017, which aims to double participation and the fanbase of the women’s game by 2020 and create sustained success at elite international level.

And while Hills is under no illusions how difficult the coming season could be after a step up in quality, she has faith in her united squad to acquit themselves admirably, starting with a trip to Durham on September 24 as they embark on their FA WSL2 journey.

“Next season, it’s about being competitive, we want to go in there and showcase what we’re all about, because we are a good side,” she said.

“We’ve made a couple of new additions, but also honoured the girls who were with us last year, because they’ve all thoroughly earned the opportunity to play at the next level, and rightly so.

“It’s going to very tough, there’s some fantastic teams who we’re going to be coming up against – we’re the newbies to the league but we’re excited for the challenge and we’re looking forward to it.”

For more information and to see all the award winners visit www.thefa.com/forgirls  Join the conversation online using the hashtag #FAWomensAwards.