Newcastle schoolgirl gets an England call-up

Apr 7 2009 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

SCHOOLGIRL Jenny Wilkes is swapping the textbooks for the football boots after being selected for the England squad.

Captain of the Newcastle Girls’ Centre for Excellence U14s team, the Year Nine Dame Allan’s pupil has the world at her feet after a call-up to the international squad.

And she has led her team to a result the senior squad would love – a 9-1 thrashing of local rivals Sunderland.

The 14-year-old stepped out at England’s Bisham Abbey training base recently to lock horns with her French counterparts in an international friendly.

But despite being on the wrong end of a 5-0 thumping, the youngster has a bright future in football.

Already this season Jenny has captained her Newcastle team against the likes of Manchester United.

And the teenager is blazing a trail across the North East – as well as the massive win over Sunderland, her team also destroyed Middlesbrough 5-2.

Jenny, who lives in Great Whittington, near Hexham, Northumberland, said she was excited about her prospects in the game.

The Newcastle United fan said: “It’s nice that we are leading the way in the region. It’s extra-special playing for Newcastle because I’ve supported them since I was eight.

“Playing for England is just a completely different experience because you are playing with people who are all of a very good standard – it’s a big privilege.

“People at school quite like it – a lot of them ask me on a Monday how the game has gone at the weekend and if we won.”