'Now feels like the right time to start family'

Simone Magill will miss Northern Ireland's 2027 World Cup qualifiers and the rest of Birmingham City's WSL2 campaign

For as long as she can remember, football has been Simone Magill's life.

In a professional career that started at Everton as a teenager, she has gone on to become the captain of her country and one of the most recognisable sporting names in Northern Ireland.

But now, she will embark on a new chapter in her life as she is expecting her first child in May with her husband, Mark.

Football will take a back seat for the next few months, and Magill, 31, says both her and Mark have "felt so much love" since they announced their news.

"It's something I've always wanted at some stage in my life and this just felt like the right time for Mark and I to want to start a family," the Birmingham City striker told BBC Sport NI.

"We've been really overwhelmed with the love and support from everyone, and everyone is super excited for us.

"My phone didn't stop when it was announced. For all of the football success I've had throughout the years I've never had anything like this when the news broke. We've definitely felt the love."

Magill spent the majority of her career her club career at Everton, who she joined as an 18-year-old in 2013.

In 2022, after leading Northern Ireland to their first major tournament, she moved to Aston Villa for a fresh start, and she then switched to Birmingham City last year.

After briefly falling out of love for the game before her move to Villa, she has now settled with the Blues and said she was at a point in her life when she was ready to start a family.

"I was constantly asking myself when the right time was. At the end of last season I was really satisfied with everything I had done, and I was just ready.

"You can only plan so much, but I said I was happy to for us to start trying. It's just really exciting, something very different and I'm really looking forward to it."

Having played her last match in September, Magill will be out of action for the rest of the WSL2 season, and Northern Ireland's 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign.

But it was her last prolonged period out of the game, when she sustained an ACL injury in Northern Ireland's Euro 2022 opener, that she realised "there was more to life than football".

"That was when I realised that I want to put myself first. I've put football first my whole life and in my career," Magill said.

"I think it is important to recognise that there is so much more to me than Simone Magill the footballer. That's very much the message that I want to get across."

'I've felt the support from club and country'

Magill announced the pregnancy to her Birmingham City team-mates in an emotional video, and the club presented her with a 'Magill #9' baby kit.

She is still around her team-mates, but her any contact has been taken out of her training sessions and she has her own individual programme.

"It's something that we've always wanted and it's really nice now that in the industry that I'm in that it's feasible for me to go and have a healthy pregnancy and stay involved. It's fully within my ambitions that I want to come back.

"I'm really fortunate to feel supported by both my club and country, which is just fantastic.

"At my club especially things are tailored to what I need. I'm training individually but I'm still in and around the girls as much as I can be.

"I'm doing warm-ups and any form of non-contact training that I can do.

"There will be a certain point where I'll have to take that bit of a step back but at the minute it has been fantastic."

Simone Magill moved to Birmingham City in 2024 to help their push for promotion

If Magill needs any inspiration to make a comeback after her pregnancy, she doesn't have to look any further than her Northern Ireland team-mate Sarah McFadden.

McFadden, 38, gave birth to her second child at the start of 2025 and returned to international football for November's Nations League play-off defeat by Iceland.

"Sarah is a shining example for me. Hopefully I can maybe go and inspire a generation in a new way than maybe I've done in the past by going on this journey.

"She was one of the first people to actually reach out to me. I've been chatting to her quite a bit. I know everyone's journey is different, so it's hard for me to compare and set myself firm goals and targets.

"I want to come back, it's my ambition to do so and God willing everything goes smooth enough so that is doable for me.

"But to have people like Sarah who I can go and talk to, I'm very fortunate to have her and others who I know in the game as well."

For now, Magill will be on the sidelines and be the "biggest fan" for both Birmingham City and Northern Ireland.

"It can be hard to watch, you always want to be playing," she said.

"But I've full faith in the girls and both club and country, and I'll be the biggest fan on the sidelines."