England women will make history tomorrow when they take on European champions Germany in front of 55,000 at Wembley Stadium with six North-East-raised players in the squad. Sports Writer Steph Clark spoke to Jordan Nobbs ahead of the game

IT’S something a child hears throughout their upbringing, but at the age of 21 Jordan Nobbs is still learning that mum’s always right.

As a young girl she thought the idea of playing for England at Wembley only existed in her dreams even though mum, Kerry, always told her otherwise.

Brought up in a football family – dad Keith was a professional with Hartlepool United for eight years from 1985 – Nobbs was always destined to excel in the sport, but back then the notion of women’s football was entirely different to what it is today.

Like many girls who were determined to be part of a male-dominated sport, Nobbs began her career on playing fields in Hartlepool where she used to tag along to the football camps her dad coached in the summer holidays before she was scouted by Sunderland Ladies’ Centre of Excellence.

Tomorrow she will be a world away from those playing fields when England women take on their German counterparts in front of a record 55,000 crowd under the arch at Wembley.

“It’s crazy really,” Nobbs, who is joined in the squad by fellow North-East stars Steph Houghton, Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze, Demi Stokes and Carly Telford. “I had a conversation with my mam the other day and she reminded me that she always used to say even when I was young that women’s football would become big and that I could play for England in front of big crowds.

%image('LOCAL LASS: England's Jordan Nobbs during the game against Sweden at Victoria Park Picture: STUART BOULTON', type="article-full")%image('3389927', type="article-full", alt="Jordan Nobbs in action against Sweden at Victoria Park in August")

“It was something I used to dream about it, but I never thought it would happen. Now it is, it’s an unbelievable feeling especially when it’s a game against Germany at Wembley. To go from soccer schools on playing fields to Wembley is unreal.”

Tomorrow’s game provides a significant moment in the women’s game, which has seen its profile rocket ever since Team GB reached the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament in London two years ago.

A team that included Houghton and Scott produced one of the moments of the Games when they defeated Brazil in front of 70,000 at Wembley.

Despite being named Arsenal’s Young Player of the Year, Nobbs was overlooked for a place in Hope Powell’s squad, and instead she was forced to watch history unfold on the television.

Undeterred by her exclusion, the midfielder, who hails from Ferryhill, County Durham, used the disappointment to spur her on and now she is regarded as an important part of the national squad.

“It was something that made me sit back and think how much I wanted to be involved in an occasion like that,” Nobbs recalled. “This is the next big thing since then so if the game can take as much from Sunday as it did from the Olympics then we could grow stronger and stronger in the years to come.

“This is a new start for England. Those who played in the game against Brazil will have their own memories and maybe that will be talked about before the game.”

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Their campaign at London 2012 certainly captured the nation’s imagination and subsequently the formation of a new two-tier Super League has propelled the sport to a whole new level.

Tomorrow’s attendance will be 15,000 more than when Roy Hodgson’s men played Norway at the same venue in September, and Nobbs believes it will be impossible to ignore the women’s game from now on.

She said: “It’ll be the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of by quite some way.

“I think the most I’ve ever had was 20,000 for an FA Cup final so I don’t think any of us will be able to hear what each other is saying on the pitch!

“That’s what we want. We want big crowds and occasions like playing at Wembley. 55,000 is something we’ve all dreamed about and we’re ready for it now.

“It shows the women’s game is there now with the crowd and the support we’ve had from everyone.

“Hopefully it will be the first of many opportunities an England women’s team will get to play at Wembley in front of a crowd that size.”

London 2012 may have put the women’s game on the map, but the success of the Women’s Super League has played a huge part according to Nobbs, who plays for Arsenal.

“I think the WSL has been the turning point. Making teams more professional means players have had to step up.

“There have been no excuses for us not to perform because we have more time on the training ground than ever, more support away from the field and more experience.

“I think that’s been a major plus and it has helped the international set-up.

“The extent of change over the last few years has been massive and to be part of this is something I’ve always wanted.”

The fixture against the European champions will set a record for the largest crowd at a home England women’s game, surpassing the 29,092 that witnessed victory over Finland at the Etihad Stadium during Euro 2005.

It will also offer Mark Sampson’s squad a vital test in the run up to next summer’s World Cup in Canada, which they qualified for with a record of ten wins out of ten.

August’s 4-0 friendly win over Sweden at Hartlepool’s Victoria Park demonstrated the strides England have made under their Welsh manager, and Nobbs is confident her side are capable of producing a surprise against the team ranked second in the world behind the USA.

“I’ve not played against a team as strong as Germany and neither have some of the other girls so it will be a massive test for us,” the midfielder said. “The performance against Sweden really showed the level we can play at and Germany are the next step up from that.

“If we want to compete at the World Cup next year we need to be performing on a big stage and be used to these occasions.

“We’ve developed as a squad and we are close to that now. If everyone pulls together we can show what a force we are going into next summer.

“We have a new strategy and new players in the squad and hopefully that will come as a surprise to Germany. I think everyone has points to prove.

“We’ve got to remember that Germany are also part of the occasion and playing in front of 55,000 at Wembley, but playing them will push us and make us a stronger team and hopefully we can show why we are one of the best teams in the world at the moment.”