Arsenal’s Jordan Nobbs has landed herself a column in the Telegraph who are trying to introduce more women’s content to their Sport supplement.
Recently the Daily Telegraph make a massive deal of launching an initiative aimed at increasing the amount of women’s sport they cover in the Sport supplement. One of the moves has been to hand Nobbs a column, although they don’t say how often she will be writing.
Her first top is her own ACL injury and she writes, “The moment I ruptured my anterior cruciate ligament was like an out-of-body experience. I heard a pop and it was like time stopped. Everything just slowed down, then went back up to speed. That was when I knew: I have done my knee. I am going to miss the World Cup.
“You’ve done your ACL” are the words no one speaks about, the words no footballer wants to hear.
“The first conversations were all about whether I would be able to make the World Cup in France in the summer. I had a six-month period to get back, so that carrot was dangling in front of my face.
“England would have supported me had I said I wanted to go, but I realised very quickly I cannot rush this injury. I cannot go to a major tournament injured again and not at full fitness – because of how hard the last one was.
“We won the bronze medal at the World Cup in Canada in 2015, but I had a hamstring injury, so only played 90 minutes. I do not even think about that medal.”
Nobbs added, “I have spoken to Arsenal’s psychologist, but I am going to be honest: I am pretty terrible at it. I will see her once and not want to talk about it. I am one of those people where I think I am strong, think I can get on with it, think I can do it myself – but the more I talk about it, the more I realise I need to do that.
“For now, it is about finding a way of telling my body to accept the new ligaments, the new movements, and trying to erase that memory of doing it.
“When I get back playing, I just need to be free and not thinking about my knee.
“We always think we can be strong and we can deal with things, but it is often about knowing that you are allowed to say when things are hard.
“I am 26 and I hope I have a long future ahead of me. I cannot rush an injury like this and I am privileged to have the support I receive from club and country. Mentally, it has been the hardest thing that I have had to deal with – but I know I am a strong person to get through this.”