Union Berlin appoint first female head coach

Marie-Louise Eta has been appointed as the head coach of German football club Union Berlin, becoming the first woman to hold the role in any of European football’s top professional men’s leagues.

Eta will lead the Bundesliga side until the end of the season after former coach Steffen Baumgart was sacked.

Union parted ways with Baumgart late on Saturday night following a 1-3 defeat away at bottom-of-the-table Heidenheim, a result which left the Berlin side with only two wins in 2026 and in danger of slipping towards the relegation zone.

Eta, who currently coaches Union’s under-19 men’s side, will now take charge of the senior team on an interim basis for the remaining five games of the season before becoming the women’s first team head coach in the summer.

“We’ve had an absolutely disappointing second half of the season so far,” said Union Director of Sport, Horst Heldt.

“Two wins out of 14 games since the winter break, and the performances we’ve shown in recent weeks, didn’t give us the confidence that we could turn things around with the existing setup. We’ve therefore decided to start afresh, and I’m delighted that Marie-Louise Eta has agreed to take on this role on an interim basis.”

Marie-Louise Eta: ‘Bundesliga survival not yet secure’

Eta, 34, will take over immediately. Her first game in charge will be at home to fellow relegation strugglers VfL Wolfsburg next Saturday.

“Given the tight situation at the bottom of the table, our survival in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” she warned. “One of Union’s strengths has always been the ability to pull together in such situations, so I’m pleased that the club has entrusted this challenging task to me.”

While the interim appointment makes Eta the first woman to officially take charge of a men’s Bundesliga side, it’s far from the Dresden-born coach’s first involvement with Union’s men’s team.

Between November 2023 and May 2024, Eta assisted Marco Grote when he took interim charge following the dismissal of former head coach Urs Fischer. She remained on the coaching staff under Fischer’s permanent successor, Nenad Bjelica, becoming the first-ever female assistant coach in the Champions League in the process.

Who is Union Berlin’s head coach Marie-Louise Eta?

As a player, Eta — then under her maiden name Bagehorn — won three Women’s Bundesliga titles and the 2010 Women’s Champions League with Turbine Potsdam.

She also represented Germany from under-15 to under-23 level, winning the under-17 European Championship in 2008 and the under-20 World Cup in 2010, but ended her playing career aged 26 due to a series of injuries.

In February 2023, she completed her UEFA Pro License, the coaching qualification required to take charge of a professional men’s football team.

Eta is the first woman to take charge of a senior men’s team in England, Spain, Germany, France or Italy, widely considered to be the best five leagues in Europe.

While women have managed men’s football teams in lower divisions before, Eta is the first to take official charge in a top division.

German third-tier club Ingolstadt are currently coached by Sabrina Wittmann, while French second-division club Clermont were managed by Corinne Diacre for three seasons until 2017.

Edited by: Karl Sexton