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Jordan Nobbs says winning promotion to the Women’s Super League with Newcastle would be “job done” for her footballing wishlist and would fulfil a personal ambition to see a club from the north-east play in the top tier.
Nobbs, who has 71 England caps, was born in Stockton-on-Tees and believes women’s football in the region would benefit immensely from top-flight representation. Newcastle finished sixth in WSL2 last term, 11 points behind the title winners, Birmingham, and nine points off the playoffs, but this summer they have made their promotion hopes clear with a flurry of high-calibre signings from the top division, including the striker Martha Thomas from Tottenham and the Liverpool duo Leanne Kiernan and Gemma Evans.
Speaking during pre-season, Nobbs was asked what the target was for the upcoming campaign. “It is promotion. I know we said it last season [too],” she said. “I’ve always said things don’t happen overnight [but] that is our goal. You have to say it out loud.
“Looking back on last season, we had some really good performances but nine draws, so I think that’s too many points [dropped]. So it’s just about focusing on finding a way to win. We’ve just got to build on the good stuff from last season, I don’t think we’re far off it.
“[Winning promotion with Newcastle], I’ve always said it would be like job done, like it would, it really would. There wouldn’t be many [more] tick boxes that I think I could possibly do. I think to get a northern team promoted … I mean as soon as I heard from Newcastle I was like, that is exactly what I want to do. I felt like, in the WSL, I’d ticked as much as I possibly could, so I think to get a north-east team, which we all had to leave back in the day, promoted would be an achievement that I would love. So we’re praying.”
Nobbs began her career with Sunderland and broke into their team in the old top flight but moved to Arsenal when the WSL was launched in 2011 after Sunderland’s application to join the breakaway division was rejected, meaning a successful Sunderland team that also included Nobbs’ future England teammates Lucy Bronze and Lucy Staniforth was broken up.
Sunderland did later compete in the top tier between 2015 and 2018 but north-east representation in the WSL has been sparse, so Nobbs is pleased to see investment in recents years at both Newcastle and their WSL2 rivals, who were taken over by Bay Collective this year.
“I think it’s been a long time coming, but it was something that us northerners have always wanted,” Nobbs said of the two clubs stepping up their game. “We don’t want the north-east to fizzle out. We want to show the players that have come from there and developed there.
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“It’s definitely grown in the right direction now, which is what we wanted. But I think the big stepping stone would be getting into the WSL. That would be where we really put the north-east back on the map and I’d love to be a part of that.”
Nobbs also said she has enjoyed her role within Tanya Oxtoby’s setup at Newcastle. “Obviously with Villa I played a lot of a deeper role and [now] I really love being back in my high position, scoring goals, assisting and [I’m] kind of in my happy place. I feel like I found that little spark again [last season] that was nice.”
