Hilda McDermott enjoyed a historic career as referee and her legacy will stand to help inspire the next generation of women referees.

She became the first female to referee a League of Ireland game on the 26th of January 2003 when Dublin City took on Athlone in Santry.

She was also Ireland's first female UEFA observer and her career should serve as an inspiration which will hopefully boost the number of women coming up through the refereeing ranks.

McDermott became a member of the FAI's referees' committee after retiring from refereeing in 2010 and was quickly appointed an observer by UEFA to assess up-and-coming new female referees throughout Europe.