Spend some time in the company of Katie Rowson and it quickly becomes evident she is passionate, enthusiastic but with a focused determination to do her best to drive Watford Ladies forward.

It is just over a month since Rowson was announced as the club’s head coach in a new-look management set-up alongside general manager Ellie Kemp, while it was also confirmed the Golden Girls were being taken under the ‘umbrella’ of Watford FC.

Preparations are continuing apace ahead of the start of the Golden Girls’ new Women’s Super League 2 season at London Bees on Wednesday, March 23 – Watford will play three friendlies before then - but Rowson is a firm believer that if you get the attitude and approach right off the pitch, it increases the chances of yielding positive results on it.

“On and off the pitch we’re working on a culture of work ethic, of hard work and competitiveness because ultimately we’re going to get judged by the results on the pitch and we completely understand that,” Rowson explained at the club’s pre-season media call at Vicarage Road on Saturday. “But we have to make sure we’re walking the walk and not just talking the talk so we’ve got to embed these philosophies off the pitch as well. So everything we do off the pitch is directly related to what we do on the pitch.

“We want to be competitive in every single game and we know the only way we can do that is through our work ethic on the pitch but also the details of our roles and responsibilities off the pitch.”

Rowson’s aim is for the Golden Girls to “establish” themselves in WSL2 this season after they finished bottom in 2015, but it is clear she is also excited by being part of the bigger picture of what is happening at Vicarage Road.

“I’ve desired a club environment for a while,” she replied when asked what attracted her to the Hornets. “I think having the contact time with the players, training three times a week and having that natural conclusion at the end of the week with a match where you can actually assess what’s gone on.

“In terms of it being Watford, Ellie was a massive part of that because what she was telling me about what was going on behind the scenes is something quite different to any of the other clubs I’ve spoken to and being part of the men’s set-up is absolutely fantastic in terms of the support, in terms of the resources, in terms of being sat here today on matchday and having a media morning. And also knowing that Watford had been on this journey for seven years, that John [former Golden Girls boss John Salomon] and his staff had done this absolutely fantastic job of progressing Watford.

“We’re saying we recognise that and we massively appreciate that hard work but now you’ve got that little bit of freedom to take it on and move with it and make sure we are an established club. That’s a challenge I’ve wholeheartedly embraced and said ‘right, let’s go’.”

Rowson’s road to Vicarage Road was somewhat unusual in that she was previously working in the British Virgin Islands but this also afforded her the opportunity to fill a role very few female coaches have experienced – the technical director of a national football association.

Explaining how the opportunity came about, the Watford Ladies head coach said: “In 2014 the British Virgin Islands were looking for a female coach of their Under-20 girls team who were about to compete in the World Cup qualifiers. FIFA had just brought in a quota for certain age groups on the women’s side but the BVI and the BVI FA and the president Andy Bickerton was well ahead of that, he was two years ahead of that quota. So he contacted the English FA and at the time I was at lucky enough to be on the female mentoring scheme. So it came through that, I put my hat in the ring, went through the interview process and got the opportunity and before you know it the bag was packed and I was on a plane to the Caribbean.

“That was specifically for a team, I got invited out the following year for the Under-15s who played in the CONCACAF championships and then there was a full-time opportunity which I had to embrace because that was a unique experience to say that I was the technical director of a football association looking after both men’s and women’s football. I believe at the time, out of the 209 member associations of FIFA, I was one of three females who was holding that position.”

But within two weeks of arriving back in this country to take up her new role, Rowson had a competitive game to prepare for as the Golden Girls faced Millwall Lionesses in the third round of the Women’s FA Cup. That resulted in a 3-1 defeat after extra-time, but the head coach found the experience invaluable.

“It was absolutely brilliant,” she said. “There was a little bit of contention about the weather but I wanted to make sure that it [the game] was on because I was going to use it as a tool to assess the girls, not just to assess their technical skills but let’s see what you’re like in a game. Who do you work well with? In a very difficult situation, have you been able to adopt the philosophy that we’re looking at, the principles that we’re looking at when I’ve only had you for two training sessions? And I have to say I was so proud at the end of that game.

“I know we lost but we took them all the way through to extra-time after two training sessions and every single one of those players attempted to and did adopt the principles that we’d set out.

“I knew it was the right decision to come to Watford but walking off the pitch that Sunday, I didn’t like the result but I think I had a grin on my face the whole way home because I knew that the people and the players that we had were going to be fantastic to work with.”