Ludlow stood down as Wales boss in 2021, replaced by Gemma Grainger who became the country’s first ever full-time manager focused only on the senior side.
Since then, the FAW have significantly increased their investment in the women’s game and the women’s national team and also agreed an equal pay deal for the women’s players to earn parity with their male counterparts.
“When I came in, there had certainly been a movement towards investing in it and I’d like to think over the last couple of years that we’ve really gone further and further,” said current chief executive Noel Mooney.
“We treat the women’s game like a start-up almost because it hadn’t had that investment historically.
“Now we’re investing in it very heavily, I think we’re one of the highest spending national associations as a percentage of our turnover with the women’s national team and we’re really proud of that because it’s deserved.
“We need to invest in high performance to qualify for Euros which we haven’t yet, to qualify for World Cups which we haven’t yet, which the men have had.
“They’ve had the investment, they’ve had the qualifications, the women haven’t yet and we need to invest heavily and invest well to make sure they’ve got all the things they need to make sure that there’s no excuses for not qualifying for Euros and for World Cups.”
Under current head coach Rhian Wilkinson, Wales take on Slovakia over two legs this month, the winners to face either Georgia or Republic of Ireland in the play-off final, a potential chance to qualify for their first ever major tournament, Euro 2025 in Switzerland next summer.
They will though be without midfielder Sophie Ingle for the play-offs after she suffered a serious knee injury while Ceri Holland and Jess Fishlock are fitness doubts.
“I’d love to think they can do it this time,” Ludlow added.
“I think the stars are aligned in many ways but there are lots of challenges.
“The development from a Uefa perspective over the last few years means that more teams can qualify so the system is very different.
“But even though there’s more teams qualifying, there’s more teams around the world and within Uefa that are investing in the women’s game as well.
“So whereas many years ago you’d look at another smaller nation and go, this should be an easy three points, it’s not necessarily the case these days.
“International football is challenging whatever team you’re coming up against and Rhian Wilkinson will know that and her staff will know that.
“So sometimes you need a bit of luck.”