'You can be a mum and a footballer - they can co-exist'

"Football will always be a large part of my life but it's very much what I do, not who I am.

"Ultimately, I'm Skye's mum and, to me, that's the most important thing."

Through her 16-year footballing career, Simone Magill has been something of a trailblazer in Northern Ireland.

From a senior debut at the age of 15, helping the country to a major tournament debut and becoming captain, she has been there and seen it all.

But after giving birth to her first child, Skye, in May, her focus is paving the way off the pitch, as well as on it.

"I think we get labelled as athletes, and that is our complete entire identity," Birmingham City striker Magill told BBC Sport.

"Obviously there's been a massive shift now. I'm a mum first and foremost and that is the highest title that I will ever have.

"Family is so important. It's my priority, and it's so nice for me to have that greater purpose now.

"It's hard and it can be overwhelming, but it's the greatest joy that I've ever experienced in my life."

Magill is speaking at the Northern Ireland camp in the lead up to Friday's World Cup play-off with Portugal.

While she is stepping up her training four months on from giving birth, the first round of play-offs have come too soon.

However, after conversations with manager Michael McArdle, who has spoken about the importance of family , the 31-year-old is in camp to train with the squad.

More importantly, Skye and her husband, Mark, are with her for the duration.

It is a glimpse into what the future will look like when Magill is back playing for Northern Ireland.

"It's so different, but it's so special. I'm really enjoying being back in, and I think I find it weirder having my husband here than having Skye," she said.

"It's just amazing that I'm able to do this and the support that I've been given to allow me to do this has made things so much easier."

After nearly a year away from the squad, from when she announced her pregnancy last November, she says the support that the Irish FA and her Northern Ireland team-mates have provided has meant "I don't need to worry about anything".

Skye and Mark have become fully integrated in the camp and join the team for meals and in downtime.

Then, when it comes to on-pitch matters and meetings, Mark is able to look after Skye and Magill can focus on the football side of things.

"Mark has his daddy-daughter days with her while I'm on the training pitch.

"Then when I'm here with the girls in and around the hotel and free times, we're all here mingling with Skye.

"She's now got 23 aunties who are all very hands-on."

Before camp, Magill admits there was a bit of apprehension about how integrating back into the group with Skye may look, but "I feel a sense of obligation to pave the way".

While she is not the first Northern Ireland player to have a child and return to playing - experienced defender Sarah McFadden gave birth to her second child in 2024 - Magill is the first to have the family integrated into the camp.

"So it's the unknown of what things are going to look like," she said.

"It's relatively new in the game and I suppose I'm one of the first people certainly here and at club as well to do this.

"There are going to be certain things that we might need a little bit more support with, but we don't know that until we go through each phase and we're navigating that all collaboratively."

'Can I still play if I can't bring her?'

Magill feels that having Skye with the group is "lovely for the mood" and "gets everyone involved" as the new arrival is the most popular member of the camp.

She added that having Skye and Mark in camp has been "game-changing", and pointed to how a new mother in a more traditional job would have a year off, while her career means she is looking to get back on the pitch as quick as possible.

"If I didn't have that support then it almost questions, 'can I still play football if I can't bring her?'

"But it means that I can fully focus on being a footballer, but equally put everything into still being a mum at the same time."

While Skye has yet to be given a club team to support - Magill has played for Everton and Aston Villa before joining Birmingham and Mark supports Manchester United - there is no debate surrounding her international allegiance.

Despite Mark being from England, Skye has already been decked out in a mini-Northern Ireland kit.

"It's so important for me that she can come back to Northern Ireland often and just be surrounded by Northern Irish accents, to show her where I've come from and my roots. It's really special."

Magill said that she and Mark, who got married in 2021 after meeting at university, had always wanted to start a family and "we almost had to remove football from that decision".

While she stopped playing matches when she found out she was expecting, she was still active in training and the gym right up to a few weeks before Skye was born.

Just four weeks after her arrival, Magill was back doing gym work and she was back on the pitch after 13 weeks.

Now fully training again, she hopes to be back playing matches later in the autumn.

"It's funny because when I announced my pregnancy, I think the natural assumption from a lot of people in the scope of wider things thought that that was probably going to be the end of my football career.

"But I was like, 'well, no, absolutely not'.

"I very much wanted to be a voice and showcase that you can be a mum and a footballer, and those things can both co-exist."

Magill has spent longer away from playing matches than when she sustained an ACL injury at Euro 2022, but the stresses of rehab are absent.

For Magill, Skye has given her a new drive and purpose. Only five games away from a century of international caps, she dreams of walking out onto the pitch with her in her arms.

"Skye will not necessarily remember any of this, but I will.

"When she's older she can look back and see the hard work that I put in to come back and play, and it was all for her.

"All throughout my pregnancy I was almost manifesting that moment that when I make my return and being able to carry her out onto the pitch, I think, you know, that's what's driving me."

Magill said that McFadden was a role model for her when it came to balancing family and football, and now she wants to inspire other players to take the same step.

"We have a lot of younger members in the squad now and hopefully it is a very normal thing for them to see that this can be done.

"You know that there's a player playing for the team that has a child and she's able to bring the child in.

"That's very important to be normalised now in our sport and I'm just so thankful that the support systems are in place to allow me to do this.

"I've always wanted to inspire people on the pitch, but hopefully this is something I've done off the pitch that could also inspire future generations to show that it's possible."