The 29-year-old made history as an assistant ref in Arsenal Ladies' 4-1 demolition of Leeds Ladies on Monday. It was the first time the cup final had been officiated by four females.

The match was shown live on BBC1 and there was a 24,000 crowd at Nottingham Forest's City Ground, which gave Helen a few nerves.

She said: "I couldn't believe how many people were there – it was definitely the biggest game of my career in terms of the amount of people watching.

"When the match starts you forget all about the people in the stands and concentrate on the game, but coming out of the tunnel was a bit of a shock.

"I'm just so glad I was asked to be involved. It was a great honour because the FA Cup is such a popular competition.

"It was a great experience and one I'll always remember."

This season, Helen, who is deputy headteacher at Sutterton Fourfields Primary School, has been an official at an Olympic Games qualifier, the female equivalent of a Champions League semi-final and an international youth tournament.

Her preparation for the FA Cup final was a week in Madrid officiating in an under-19 international event.