Jordan Nobbs ready to complete wishlist with Newcastle WSL dream

Jordan Nobbs says winning promotion to the Women’s Super League with Newcastle would fulfil her ambition for a club from the north-east to be 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 hopes clear with high-calibre signings from the top division, including the striker ­Martha Thomas from Tottenham and the Liverpool duo Leanne Kiernan and Gemma Evans.

Nobbs is clear about the ­target for the new 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, that’s too many points [dropped]. 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 job done. To get a northern team promoted … as I heard from Newcastle I was like, that is exactly what I want to do. In the WSL, I’d ticked as much as I possibly could, so to get a north‑east team, which we all had to leave back in the day, promoted would be an achievement I would love.”

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 and Sunderland’s application to join the breakaway division was rejected. That led to a successful team also including Nobbs’s future England teammates Lucy Bronze and Lucy Staniforth breaking up.

Sunderland did 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 recent years at Newcastle as well as their WSL2 rivals, who were taken over in June by Bay Collective.

“It’s been a long time coming, but it was something us ­northerners have always wanted,” Nobbs said. “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 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.”

The 33-year-old has enjoyed her role in Tanya Oxtoby’s setup at Newcastle after joining them last July. “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] in my happy place. I feel like I found that little spark again [last season] that was nice.”