Jordan Nobbs says winning promotion to the Women's Super League with Newcastle United would represent the ultimate achievement of her playing career. The 33-year-old midfielder, who has 71 England caps and won 12 major trophies during her time at Arsenal, made the comments after Newcastle finished sixth in WSL 2 during her first season at the club.
Nobbs, who was born in Durham and started out at Sunderland before moving south as the women's game professionalised, joined Newcastle as their marquee signing last year. She told the BBC that helping a North East club reach the top flight for the first time would carry special significance given her own path away from the region.
I've always said it would be like job done, it really would.
There wouldn't be many tick boxes that I think I could possibly do. As soon as I heard from Newcastle [I knew] that is exactly what I wanted to do.
To get a North East team - which we all had to leave back in the day - promoted, it would be an achievement that I would love to have. We're praying it happens.
How did Nobbs perform last season?
Nobbs was named in the WSL 2 Team of the Season for 2025-26 after a campaign in which she registered 12 goal involvements and completed 730 successful passes, according to the league's official season review. She also picked up the WSL 2 Player of the Month award for December after scoring in wins over Southampton and Portsmouth, as noted by the competition's monthly awards announcement. In total, she made 16 league appearances and played 1,372 minutes across the campaign, per her player profile on the league's website. She was joined in the Team of the Season by Newcastle team-mates including Beth Hepple, Emily Syme and Ashleigh Weerden, according to a report on the season's award winners.
Why did Newcastle fall short of promotion?
Nobbs pointed to an excess of drawn matches as the main factor that prevented Newcastle from going up last season, but she insisted the club are not scaling back their ambitions after an active summer transfer window. Newcastle strengthened their defence during that window by signing Wales international Gemma Evans, who arrived after two seasons at Liverpool and said she was looking forward to contributing to the club's promotion push, as reported in earlier coverage of her move to Newcastle.
What is the plan under Tanya Oxtoby?
Nobbs credited head coach Tanya Oxtoby, who previously managed Northern Ireland and worked alongside Emma Hayes at Chelsea, with driving improvement at the club despite a squad in transition.
I know we said it last season but I've always said things don't happen overnight. We had a lot of changes.
But [promotion] is our goal and you have to say that out loud. A lot of stuff we did last season, we don't want to go too far away from.
What role does Nobbs play off the pitch?
Nobbs said she is embracing a senior, mentoring role within the squad, even as her team-mates jokingly refer to her as a
