Dingley was not prepared for the huge media interest, as journalists and camera crews descended on otherwise low-key pre-season matches to capture history in the making.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind. The media attention wasn’t something I was expecting or skilled at dealing with,” she said.
“I even had security – something I’ve never had before. They were like, ‘Let’s get you in, keep your head down, don’t speak to anybody.’ All very different to what I’m used to doing.
“A good experience, though, because if that’s something I’d like to do in the future then that [media attention] is something that comes with the role.”
Born in St Albans, Dingley moved to Carmarthenshire when she was four as her parents wanted to be closer to where they grew up.
Life in Llansteffan would act as a launchpad for her coaching career, even though she had to overcome old-fashioned mentalities at her school.
“It was idyllic growing up there – tiny little village, seafront, beach on the doorstep, castle on the hill,” she says.
“I was inspired to play football there, starting playing with the boys on the fields. I was usually the defender because they all wanted to be the strikers. But I was the one who went into football [as a profession] and my brother’s a musician.
“We only had 30 children in the whole primary school. There weren’t enough girls to have a girls’ football team. And then it was a bit of a shock to the system going to secondary school because we were told girls don’t play football – it’s netball or hockey.
“But when I turned 16 I started playing for Carmarthen Town and got the bug from there. At 17 and 18 I started coaching the men’s village team for a bit of experience.
“I also did work experience at Swansea City when they were still at the Vetch Field. Typical work experience things, spent a bit of time with the community trust, stuffing letters into envelopes, making teas and trying to carry them up and down the steps of the terraces without spilling them.
“They had a gym that was in the concourse and I remember watching some of the first-team players train there. Then you walk in on a matchday and your hair stands on end with all the noise on the terraces. That really helped inspire me to want to get into football.”