Football and family intertwined for former Monaghan star Brenda McAnespie

Ask Brenda McAnespie a question about football, and almost invariably, family and community is part of the answer.

Ask her a question about family and community, and her response is usually heavily centred around football.

The two topics are so intertwined for the three-time All-Star winner that it's impossible to separate them.

Together, they have been the key ingredients that have been central to the life of the former Monaghan star.

Case in point – tomorrow at Croke Park, when McAnespie will be introduced to the crowd as part of the Jubilee team, the 1997 All-Ireland champions from the Farney County.

That victory over Waterford was their second All-Ireland win, and a particularly memorable one for McAnespie, who lined out at centre back in their 2-15 to 1-16 victory.

"All-Ireland final is a family day in Ladies Football, you’ll have aunts, uncles, loads of people up for the big occasion. Monaghan used to bring a particularly big crowd, there was massive interest all across the county, maybe twenty-something thousand would go up for those games. But because it was in Croke Park, you could still pick out the groups of people that came up to be there for you on the day," McAnespie recalls.

"I was pregnant for that final and after getting the all-clear from the doctor, I played the game and just told everybody in the dressing room after. Back then, I was one of very few older players on that Monaghan team, and I used to just bring the children to training, and it was just part of the routine. For me, I wanted to play football for Monaghan and I wanted to have a large family, and there was no reason why it had to be one or the other.

"The McNally girls might have been there (a family of sisters from Tyholland that were to go on to