Neville in at Thunder

Netball: THE sporting sister of former England footballers Gary and Phil Neville has landed a job in sports management before her famous siblings.

Tracey Neville, twin-sister of Phil, has taken the role of Director of Netball at Northern Thunder.

Neville, who played in netball’s top tier for 14 years and was capped more than 80 times for her country, has started working with the Fiat Netball Superleague outfit as they prepare for the first match of the new season — a Roses clash with Yorkshire Jets on January 23.

The 34-year-old is hoping to take them all the way to the grand final, which Thunder missed out on last term after a series of injuries.

She said: “It is an exciting time for netball in the North West and I am delighted to be taking over as head coach at Northern Thunder.

“It is a real home-coming for me and I am looking forward to the new season.

“I have always wanted to play netball and concentrated on reaching the top of the sport at a playing level but, like a lot of national athletes, it seems like a natural progression to go into coaching and managing a netball team.

“Now that I no longer play the sport, I am looking forward to reaching the top as a manager. I’ve had plenty of opportunity to watch great coaches at work and I hope to put that into practice, along with my own experiences, and lead Northern Thunder to the top.”

Neville will be assisted by Suzy Chapman, who took over from the late Mike Greenwood last season when he became too unwell to coach the team.

When Thunder take on the Jets in the new year, Neville and Chapman will have the honour of leading out the side at Thunder’s new home.

The club switched from Castle Leisure Centre in Bury to Wright Robinson Sports Village in East Manchester.

Around £150,000 has been invested in netball facilities at the village to accommodate top-flight netball.

As well as becoming the home ground for Northern Thunder, the village has been designated a national performance centre for the region’s elite netballers.

It is the first venue of its kind in the country which will host netball at all levels, including juniors starting at the age of six through to elite national-level players.