Jordan Nobbs

Jordan Nobbs (born 8 December 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays for Women's Super League club Aston Villa.

She previously played for Sunderland and Arsenal.

Nobbs has played for the England women's national team at the youth and senior levels.

Nobbs joined the Sunderland centre of excellence aged eight, and was also attached to Middlesbrough as a youngster.

In the 2008–09 season, she emulated her father Keith Nobbs by representing Durham schools, while a pupil at Sedgefield Community College.

Upon turning 16 in December 2008, Nobbs began playing for the Sunderland first-team.

In her first season in senior football, Nobbs helped Sunderland win the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division and reach the 2009 FA Women's Cup final, where they were narrowly beaten by Arsenal.

The following season, Nobbs was an "integral" part of Sunderland's success as they finished fifth in their first season back at the top level.

In November 2009, Nobbs scored against Arsenal, as Sunderland inflicted only the Gunners' second league defeat in more than six years.

At the end of the season, Nobbs was named manager's and player's player of the year at Sunderland.

She also won the 2010 FA Young Player of the Year award.

When Sunderland's bid to join the FA WSL failed, Nobbs was approached by several of the leading clubs in the country.

She eventually signed for Arsenal in August 2010.

With Arsenal awaiting the impending arrival of the FA WSL which would become a summer competition for the first six seasons, Nobbs continued to play for Sunderland in the 2010–11 Premier League.

Sunderland won the league that season but were not promoted as the WSL lineup was already confirmed.

Nobbs made her Arsenal debut in Serbia in September 2010, as a second-half substitute in a 3–1 UEFA Women's Champions League win over ZFK Masinac.

She scored her first goal in the home leg, the sixth goal in a 9–0 win.

She appeared in all eight of Arsenal's games starting the last five as Arsenal lost out at the semi-final stage to Lyon.

On 21 May 2011, Nobbs started for Arsenal as they won the Women's FA Cup final beating Bristol Academy 2–0 at the Ricoh Arena.

Nobbs played a key role in the inaugural WSL season as Arsenal won the title while playing 12 of the 14 games, making 9 starts and scoring 1 goal.

At the completion of the WSL, the rebranded League Cup was played with Nobbs starting the quarter and semi finals and coming on as a sub for Danielle Carter after 69 minutes in the final against Birmingham City which Arsenal won 4–1.

In the 2012 season, Nobbs appeared in seven of Arsenal's eight Champions League matches scoring four goals in the process as Arsenal were knocked out at the semi-final stage for the second consecutive season.

Nobbs featured in 13 of Arsenal's 14 matches as they retained the title without losing a match, Nobbs also improved her end product, scoring 5 goals and finishing as the joint sixth top scorer in the league.

For the third consecutive season, Nobbs featured as Arsenal reached the semi-final stage of the Champions League, but once again fell short of the final this time to VfL Wolfsburg.

Nobbs scored in the 2013 FA Cup final as Arsenal beat Bristol Academy 3–0 at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Nobbs played every game as Arsenal won the 2013 WSL Cup, beating Lincoln 2–0 in the final.

Nobbs played in Arsenal's first four Champions League matches, scoring four goals, but then picked up a back injury in pre-season, leading her miss the entirety of Arsenal's victorious FA Cup campaign.

She did not return during the summer season until 6 July for a substitute appearance in a WSL Cup tie with Chelsea which Arsenal won 3–0.

Without Nobbs, Arsenal had only won one of their first five games and were bottom of the league with just a point after four games.

By the end of the season, despite only playing nine games, she had scored five goals which left her as Arsenal's joint top scorer with Casey Stoney.

Arsenal also reached the WSL Cup final with Nobbs playing the last two group matches, the semi-final and the final, but lost 1–0 to Manchester City.

Nobbs was ever present in an ultimately disappointing WSL campaign which saw them fail to qualify for the 2014–15 Champions League, although their 2012 WSL win had already qualified them for the 2013–14 Champions League.

Nobbs finished as Arsenal's joint top scorer alongside striker Danielle Carter with six goals.

The 2015 WSL was another injury hit season for Nobbs, picking up a hamstring injury 10 minutes into a 0–0 draw with Chelsea on 30 April, just a month before the 2015 World Cup in Canada.

On the post-World Cup resumption, Arsenal won the 2015 League Cup, with Nobbs scoring two goals in the final, as well as picking up the Player of the Match award.

In the 2016 season, Arsenal required penalties to beat Birmingham City in the FA Cup round of 16 to advance, with Nobbs scoring the decisive kick.

In May 2016, Nobbs featured in the 2016 FA Cup final which Arsenal won 1–0 against Chelsea.

The WSL season was once again ultimately disappointing for Arsenal, finishing 3rd.

Arsenal manager, Pedro Martinez Losa praised Nobbs after a good performance against Notts County in July, "There’s no question about the importance of Jordan Nobbs and what level she can get to. We know her quality and because of how young she is she brings a lot of energy to the team."

Arsenal's slim title chances ended in a 1–0 defeat to Man City in September, Losa once again praised Nobbs and said, "I think mainly Jordan Nobbs did very well for us in the game. I think she did a fantastic job. Obviously all the players want to do a fantastic job. There's not one player who wants to lose the ball or miss a pass. But I think Jordan is the one that is stepping up in terms of mentality, competitiveness and also football."