The She Kicks Locker Room: Game Ready with Libby Bance (Brighton and Hove Albion)

Brighton’s eighteen-year-old forward, an academy graduate who debuted in November 2019 and signed professionally this summer, walks through a matchday. Two hours before the warm-up it is pasta of some sort with a banana, plus an isotonic drink and a gel if she feels she is lagging. She has no rituals but likes calm, avoids anything stressful, and always puts on the left boot then the right before tying the left then the right. She visualises situations that might come up in the game to relax herself, and if she is starting she is usually nervous, so she thinks back to performances that went well. Afterwards it is music, talking about the game, good food and plenty of sleep.