Chris Powell turned down a trip to Brazil for the World Cup to complete his UEFA Pro Licence at St George’s Park in June.

The new Town boss took the qualification alongside former Town midfielder Wayne Burnett, Nathan Jones and also his new assistant manager at Town, Alex Dyer, who worked alongside him at Charlton Athletic before his sacking in March.

Powell – who worked with the England Under 17s before their European Championship victory – says he will always take pride in attaining the Pro Licence.

“After 18 months of hard work, I finally gained my UEFA Pro Licence and became a fully qualified coach in June,” said Powell, who is a leading ambassador for the Kick It Out charity.

“I will always look back on that achievement with real pride as I was part of the first cohort to pass the Pro Licence at St George’s Park – which is fast becoming known as the home of football coaching and learning.

“I shared the journey to getting the Pro Licence with a diverse group who all had a real love for the game. Some had played at the highest level, and others had spent time coaching abroad and in the lower leagues.

“Ryan Giggs, Paul Ince, Gary Neville, Micky Mellon, Wayne Burnett, Stephane Henchoz, Graham Kavanagh, Lois Fidler – only the third woman to pass the Pro Licence – were just some of those on the course, along with Alex Dyer and Nathan Jones who were both on my staff at Charlton Athletic.”

The five-cap England international, who becomes Town’s fourth full-time manager in six years under Dean Hoyle, started studying for the Licence while he was still boss at The Valley.

“Shortly after leaving Charlton and separate from my studies, I had the pleasure of helping coach England Under 17s,” explained Powell.

“It came out of the blue after I was very kindly asked by John Peacock and Kenny Swain, and I helped them out during the qualifying stages for the European Championships, which the team went on to win in Malta in May.

“Sadly, I couldn’t get out there for it so I had to watch it on Eurosport. I jumped up for joy when they won the final against the Netherlands on penalties!

“I can tell you that they actually practiced penalties for 21 days after every training session to prepare themselves for the possibility. I was really proud of them when they managed to win it.”