'We’ll try and win it for her': FA's head of women’s football says injured Jordan Nobbs could still have World Cup role with England
The FA’s head of women’s football, Baroness Sue Campbell, has reacted to the news that England midfielder Jordan Nobbs will miss next summer’s World Cup, saying: “We’ll try and win it for her.”
Campbell was speaking after the World Cup draw in France that saw England handed what she described as “a tough group with three really tough games” in Scotland, Japan and Argentina in Group D.
The Lionesses’ preparations have already been disrupted by the ACL injury, sustained in November, to Arsenal captain Nobbs, which rules her out of the tournament. Nobbs underwent successful surgery on Monday but the rehabilitation process will not see her make the squad for a tournament beginning on June 7, an absence that, though not unexpected, presents a major headache for head coach Phil Neville given Nobbs was the fulcrum of his midfield. It is a cruel twist of fate for a player who only played once due to injury at the 2015 World Cup in Canada, where England finished third.
“I’m just sad for Jordan,” said Campbell. “She’s such a great person, let alone a good footballer, and it’s really tough on her as an individual, and tough for us. She has been - and still is - an important part of our squad, and will be for the future. I’m sure it’s heartbreaking for her. But we’ve got a lot of very good players and we’ll try and win it for her.”
Neville had already promised that the FA “will be supporting her every step of the way throughout her rehabilitation process” and there is a chance, should Nobbs wish, that this will extend to some alternative involvement in the World Cup next summer.
“It’s early days yet,” Campbell explained. “We certainly will be talking to her, and I’ve been in touch with her all along, but she only had her operation this week. We’ll see what she wants. Sometimes being really close is not what you want, but certainly we will talk to her and see what she would like to do.”
Asked what success looks like for England next summer, Campbell said: “There are no guarantees in sport. I could stand here and say to you it’s winning the World Cup, and, of course, that’s got to be the ambition.
“But the reality is we want to play the very best we can. Each player is on an individual programme right now, so what we’ve ask of them is that when we step into the World Cup, you’re the best that you can be. If we can put that all together and we can play the best that we can play, that will be good enough for us. And if we do that, I think we’ll go a long way.”
