Fast Fives: Abbey Joice

An instalment of Fast Fives, an interview of two halves with the Sunderland attacking midfielder whose plan to return for one last season was twice thwarted by the pandemic. Joice describes a pressure-free start to the campaign in the Championship, keeping the number 17 she has worn since arriving at 16 and which is now on her car registration, and names dribbling and reading the game as her strengths. She prefers playing at Eppleton, where she grew up, to the Stadium of Light, and adds a Sport Development degree and a job as a train conductor to her achievements. In the quickfire second half she rarely travels on the team bus because of work, praising assistant coach Steph Libbey’s quizzes, naming Emily Scarr the fastest, Grace McCatty the mum of the group, and Libby McInnes the real dark horse.