James Joyce has been smiling ever since he eventually stopped screaming with joy. Sitting on the couch at home next to his dad Dave, eating chicken and rice, the Marine defender was overcome on the night of December 1 when fate presented the opportunity of a lifetime.
The prospect of facing Tottenham, Joyce explained, has made the last six weeks surreal.
Marine’s history-making squad have been in a bubble in more ways than one, riding the emotion of it all. They have been in Another Place mentally, so it seems fitting we meet on Crosby beach, near the Sir Antony Gormley sculptures which carry that title.