Jade Bell interview: Cobblers' star striker on breaking records, her love for scoring goals and Town's title tilt

With 20 goals in 16 appearances, Bell is the FA Women's National League top scorer in 2024/25 and her team – Cobblers Women – are top of the Division One Midlands table and in pole position to secure promotion to tier three, a level they have never previously played at.

Talk to Town’s joint managers Liam Williams and Josh Oldfield and they will tell you, rightly, that it is about the collective, not individuals, but every successful side needs an in-form striker to score the all-important goals and Cobblers certainly have one of those.

Bell has not taken the traditional path to where she is now but her love for football can be traced all the way back to her early childhood. “I started when I was about six,” she explains. “I have an older brother and he played football growing up and as the younger sibling I was always at his training and his games. It was natural for me to get involved.

“I’d be kicking a football by the side of the pitch all of the time and when I was old enough to play in my own age group, there was a team ready for me and they were really happy to have me. It started in a boys’ team because that’s all there was at the time and it all took off from there.”

Bell’s love for football blossomed as a child and into her teen years, and then came a huge opportunity on the other side of the Atlantic – a football scholarship in America. "Growing up that was something I always wanted to,” she says. “Back then, there wasn't the girls’ and women's leagues that there are now but it was my dream and I just thought 'I'm going to do it'.”

She travelled over in August 2011. "There are agencies but I did it a slightly different way,” she adds. “I made a little highlights video of myself and emailed it directly to coaches and there was a coach who used to live in Peterborough and he was out in Texas and he recommended the school that I went to.

"I got a scholarship and I never looked back. I absolutely loved it. It was completely life-changing and I would encourage all young girls to go and do it. I was living away from my family on the other side of the world so I had to fend for myself and I grew up really quickly because of that, but the football side of it was the most professional I’ve ever experienced.”

So, after six and a half years, why did she come back? "It was actually a little bit unexpected when I came back. I was living with a host family in Texas once I finished college. I was playing for FC Dallas and working over there and I loved it, but then I took a job in Boston. I came home for Christmas, I think in 2018, and I booked my flight back to Boston but I woke up on the day of my flight and just decided in that moment that I wasn't going. I think it was probably too much change.

"I might have gone back to Texas but I wanted to stay with my family. My brother was moving out and starting a family and my parents and my nan were getting older and I felt it was time to be back home and I don't regret that decision at all.”

After taking some time to establish herself back in England, Bell played for MK Dons and Cambridge before heading to London Bees, but a change in management led to her move to Northampton.

She continues: "It was a toss up between Cambridge and Northampton but I met Zoe Boote at MK Dons and she went to Northampton when to London Bees and the whole time she spoke about how good it was and she'd be on at me to join her and once I decided to move on, Northampton was probably my only choice from what Zoe said."

It was another decision that proved absolutely the right one. "I've been at a lot of clubs and you get different team dynamics and cultures but Zoe was absolutely right in everything she said. It's the best group of players and staff that I've been around and I just love everything about the club.

"That obviously really helps on the pitch and a lot of credit goes to the staff and the group. I'm quite needy but Josh (Oldfield) and Liam (Williams) have been massive in supporting that. I feel comfortable and settled.”

After winning promotion to tier four for the first time in the club’s history in 2022, Cobblers first consolidated at the level and are now thriving. This season they are top of the table and Bell is leading the way in the scoring charts.

"I scored goals for fun as a kid and it always came quite naturally to me,” she explains. “I did get put wide when I was younger but I can score goals and to be playing more central most of the time means I can run onto balls and play to my strengths. I'm quick and I like those balls in behind and over the top. A lot of my training is based on sharpness and my speed and those are the things I really thrived on.

"I try and not get too ahead of myself. I know the numbers but I don't get too involved in that. My aim is to just keep my head down and keep scoring goals for myself and the team.”

Her form has been central to the team’s success, but has anything clicked in particular clicked this season? Or has it all just come together at the right time?

Bell adds: "There's nothing in particular but my first season was our first season in tier four and that was always going to be a difficult year. We built on those foundations and we've stayed together as a group and that's been really important. We've gained momentum.

"It's been huge to play under Josh and Liam and that's been a big part of my success and the team's success. I know what my body needs and I know I can speak to them about that and they've always time and space for that. They know us as individuals and what we all need and understand that we're all different. I do need something a bit different to everyone else and they allow that – within reason – and that's huge, not just for me but for all of us. We all feel comfortable.

"The ultimate aim is to win the league. You have to be realistic and we were at the start of the season but now we're in this position, you have to believe that it can be ours. It's in our control. Loughborough can catch us but we still have to play them twice and they have tough games against Leafield and Peterborough.

"There's a balance between keeping your feet on the ground and believing but I think we have a good balance between younger players and older players and we keep each other level. The job's far from done and we have to keep working hard to get those wins every week."

On her personal ambitions, Bell says: "It's tough. I've played at tier three with MK Dons and London Bees and I'm getting towards the latter end of my career, although I still feel like I have five to eight years left. I'm not sure I'm ready or if I even want to go to the Championship or Super League, I don't know how realistic that is, but there's also that balance with my job. I train and coach with Strive Performance and they’re the reason I believe I’ve still got plenty of years left, but we also want to educate and inspire the next generation."

"But the one thing I haven't done is win promotion with a team so that's definitely the target. We're in this situation now and we're in a good position to achieve that. That's the ultimate goal. It's ours to keep and we want to keep chasing that."