Newcastle United have made promotion their clear target for the new season, with Jordan believing the club has the squad, experience and ambition to finally make the step up to the WSL.
After a campaign in which Newcastle came close but ultimately fell short, the message from within the camp is clear: promotion is the objective.
A summer of recruitment has brought fresh faces into the squad, with a mixture of experienced players and emerging talent now working together ahead of the new campaign.
For Jordan, who has embraced a leadership role within the group, the immediate priority is getting the new-look squad to gel as quickly as possible.
“I think it’s just about gelling the team as quickly as we can,” she said.
Pre-season friendlies have played an important role in that process, providing valuable game time while allowing newcomers to understand their teammates and become accustomed to Newcastle’s style of play.
Turning Draws Into Wins
Newcastle’s biggest lesson from last season may have been the number of points they left behind.
The team recorded around eight or nine draws, and Jordan believes turning some of those results into victories could be the difference between another near miss and promotion.
“I think eight or nine draws… that’s too many points,” she said. “So I think we’ve just got to find a way to win.”
The midfielder believes Newcastle already have plenty of positive foundations to build upon, with the focus now on making small improvements at both ends of the pitch.
Creating chances was not necessarily the problem last season; converting them was.
“We created a lot of chances last season, but didn’t quite get the goal,” Jordan said.
The challenge, therefore, is to become more clinical in front of goal while also reducing the number of goals conceded.
A Squad Built For The Challenge
The arrival of several new players has created a balance between experience and youth that Jordan believes will be crucial in such a competitive division.
Experienced players can adapt quickly to the demands of the league, while younger members of the squad bring energy and the opportunity to continue developing.
“I think we’ve got a balance,” Jordan said. “You need , especially in this league, players that can adapt quickly. But then you want the youth that are maybe running a few more miles or just progressing as players.”
With the league expected to be closely contested once again, Newcastle will need every member of the squad to contribute.
Jordan believes the division is unpredictable enough for the table to change dramatically within just a few matches.
“You can go from second to sixth within a few games. It’s so tight,” she said.
Leicester and Bristol have been identified as potential promotion contenders, but Jordan stressed that the competitiveness of the division means there could be several teams challenging towards the top.
For Newcastle, the focus will be on ensuring they are among those teams when the promotion race reaches its decisive stages.
Finding Her Attacking Spark
Jordan’s own journey last season was one of adaptation.
Having moved into a different league and initially missed matches through a quad injury, she eventually settled into her role and rediscovered the attacking freedom she enjoys.
At Aston Villa, she had often played in a deeper position, but Newcastle allowed her to return to a higher role where she could contribute with goals and assists.
“I feel like I found that little spark again,” she said.
The midfielder believes enjoyment has been central to her performances.
“I just still love playing football,” she added. “Whenever you start enjoying and relaxing on the pitch, you know, that just naturally comes.”
Her experience will be particularly important as Newcastle look to develop the younger members of the squad.
Jordan is keen to offer tactical advice and pass on lessons from her own career, but without imposing herself on her teammates.
“I’d always try with that,” she said, while stressing that players should still be allowed to develop in their own way.
For Jordan, leadership is about helping those around her while continuing to perform herself.
WSL Expansion Offers Greater Opportunity
The expansion of the WSL has added another layer of excitement to Newcastle’s ambitions.
Jordan believes the growth of the women’s game, including an increase in fixtures, can encourage clubs to become more professional and improve their facilities, squad depth and overall infrastructure.
“If you dive into the WSL 2 or the WSL 1 and you aren’t prepared, you’re going to struggle now with the depth of people’s squads and facilities and everything,” she said.
The revamped Subway Players Cup will also offer further opportunities for WSL 2 sides to face higher-level opposition.
The new league-phase format means more fixtures and the possibility of testing themselves against WSL opposition, something Jordan sees as valuable experience for Newcastle as they look to close the gap to the top flight.
Putting the Northeast Back on the Map
For Jordan, Newcastle’s promotion bid means much more than personal or club success. It is also about the development of women’s football across the Northeast.
The region has a huge appetite for football, with Newcastle and Sunderland boasting passionate fanbases, while recent investment has provided fresh optimism around the women’s game.
Jordan believes that investment can help develop more local talent and ensure the Northeast continues to move forward.
“We don’t want the Northeast to fizzle out,” she said. “We want to show the players that have come from there and develop them.”
The ultimate goal, however, is reaching the WSL.
Jordan sees Newcastle’s promotion as potentially representing a major milestone for women’s football in the region.
“I think the big stepping stone would be getting into the WSL,” she said. “I think that would be where we really put the Northeast back on the map and I’d love to be a part of that.”
‘Job Done’
Promotion would also hold enormous personal significance for Jordan.
Having already enjoyed a career filled with major achievements, she described helping a Northeast side reach the WSL as something that could feel like “job done.”
“I think to get a Northeast team promoted would be an achievement that I would love to have,” she said.
That motivation stems from her own roots in the region.
Nobbs highlighted Sunderland’s role in her early development before she eventually moved to Arsenal and now wants to give something back.
“I want to kind of give back to the Northeast,” she said.
With Newcastle determined to learn from last season’s missed opportunities, a strengthened squad and an increasingly ambitious women’s game in the region, the ingredients are in place.
The challenge now is converting promise into results.
For Newcastle, promotion is no longer simply an ambition to discuss; it is the target they want to deliver.
