Brave sports star Jen Hilton is about to make history - by becoming the first woman to play alongside men in the British American Football Association’s Community League. The tough cookie from Tile Hill is putting on her pads in tireless training to make her debut with the Coventry Jets this May. The sport’s national governing body has confirmed the 27-year-old will be the first woman to play the full-contact game at premier league level.

Coventry is already a hotbed of young female talent with Warwick and Coventry universities hosting the UK’s first established women’s non-contact “flag” teams. But 5’10” Jen will be the first – and only – woman to play with and against men in the national league and, as one of the Jets’ running backs, she’ll be guaranteed contact with burly blokes on the field.