‘Now feels like the right time to start family’

Football has been Simone Magill’s life since she can recall.

She rose to prominence as the country’s captain and one of the most recognizable sporting names in Northern Ireland after beginning her professional career at Everton as a teenager.

She will now have her first child with her husband, Mark, who will be having her first child in May.

In the coming months, football will take a backseat, and Magill, 31, claims that Mark and her have “felt a lot of love” since they made their announcement.

The Birmingham City striker told BBC Sport NI that it was something I’ve always wanted at some point in my life and that this was the ideal time for Mark and I to start a family.

Everyone is so welcoming, and everyone is incredibly excited about us. “We’ve been really overwhelmed by the love and support we’ve received.

Prior to joining Everton as an 18-year-old in 2013, Magill spent the majority of her professional career at Everton.

She moved to Aston Villa for a fresh start in 2022 after leading Northern Ireland to their first major tournament, and she then made her first managerial switch to Birmingham City last year.

Before her move to Villa, she briefly fell in love with the game and said she was about to start a family. She has since settled with the Blues.

“I was asking myself when the right time was constantly.” I was just about ready when I finished the last season really pleased with everything I had accomplished.

“You can only make plans,” I said, “but I’m happy to see us try.” I’m really looking forward to it because it’s so exciting and something entirely new.

Magill will miss the remainder of the WSL2 season and Northern Ireland’s 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign since playing her final game in September.

However, she realized that “there was more to life than football when she suffered an ACL injury in Northern Ireland’s Euro 2022 opener.”

When I realized that I wanted to prioritize myself, that is when. My career and my entire life have prioritized football,” said Magill.

In a heartfelt video, Magill revealed her pregnancy to her Birmingham City team-mates, and the club gave her a “Magill #9” baby kit.

She still has contact with her team-mates, but she now has her own individual program and training schedule.

It’s something we’ve always wanted, and it’s really nice now that I can enter the field and continue to work in it while having a healthy pregnancy. I want to return, and it’s entirely within my means.

I feel very fortunate to have both my club and my country supporting me, which is fantastic.

“Especially at my club, things are customized to what I need.” Although I’m training separately, I’m still as active as possible in and around the girls.

I’m completing warm-ups and any other form of non-contact training I can.

She doesn’t need to look further than her Northern Ireland team-mate Sarah McFadden if she needs any inspiration to make a comeback after her pregnancy.

McFadden, 38, was expecting her second child at the start of 2025 and returned to international football following Iceland’s Nations League play-off defeat in November.

“Sarah is a shining example for me,” she said. By embarking on this journey, I hope to inspire a generation in a different way than I did in the past.

She was one of the first people to actually contact me. She and I have a lot of conversation going on. It’s difficult for me to compare and establish concrete goals and objectives because I am aware that everyone’s journey is unique.

“I want to come back, and it’s my goal, and God willing, everything goes smoothly enough for me.”

However, I’m very fortunate to have her and others I know in the game to go and talk to people like Sarah.

For the time being, Magill will be watching from the sidelines and support both Birmingham City and Northern Ireland.

You always want to be playing, she said, which can be difficult to watch.