He also won ten caps for the England amateur team and was captain of the Great Britain football side at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin where they played China and Poland.

However, he did gain recognition at international level soon after, when on 9 May 1936, he played for England in their 3–2 loss against Belgium, making him the last amateur to play for the national side; given the gulf in quality between the professional and amateur games in the modern day, it is exceedingly unlikely Joy's record will ever be taken by another player.

Joy continued to play for Arsenal, mainly deputising for the Gunners' established centre-half Herbie Roberts.

Roberts suffered a broken leg in October 1937 and Joy took his place in the side for the remainder of the 1937–38 season, winning a First Division winners' medal, and then, with Roberts having retired from the game, on through the 1938–39 season (earning a 1938 Charity Shield winners' medal in the process).

Joy began his career in journalism as a football writer on The Star, one of three London evening papers published in the 1940s.

Joy was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1977 Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours.