{"id":69390,"date":"2026-04-27T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/69390\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T11:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:57:11","slug":"feminist-football-fantasy-isnt-working-out-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/69390\/","title":{"rendered":"Feminist Football Fantasy Isn\u2019t Working Out in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

In January 2023, the sports comedy series G\u00f3lkir\u00e1lys\u00e1g premiered on the Hungarian TV network RTL. Probably inspired by the success of Ted Lasso, an American sports comedy on Apple TV, G\u00f3lkir\u00e1lys\u00e1g follows the story of T\u00f3ni Szab\u00f3, a female gym teacher who accidentally gets hired by a professional men\u2019s team in the Hungarian second division due to a mix-up with her name.<\/p>\n

In April 2026, the premise of the successful Hungarian sports comedy became a reality in Germany. Marie-Louise Eta was appointed interim head coach of the German Bundesliga team Union Berlin after the firing of head coach Steffen Baumgart. This is the first time a female coach has been put in charge of a team in the \u2018big four\u2019 European leagues, even on an interim level.<\/p>\n

However, this was not the first time a woman was coaching a team in a men\u2019s German Bundesliga game. Eta herself has the distinction. In 2024 she was already a part of the Union Berlin coaching staff. While head coach Nenad Bjelica was serving a three-game suspension in January 2024, Eta stepped up to fulfil the head coach duties for those three games.<\/p>\n

She debuted with a crucial, 1\u20130 victory over SV Darmstadt 98 in the relegation battle. Union under her watch then took a 2\u20130 loss in Leipzig against the home UEFA Champions League side, and got a point against Mainz 05 on the road in a 1\u20131 draw.<\/p>\n

Those four points collected by Union Berlin with Eta at the helm on matchdays proved to be crucial, as they ended up finishing tied on points in 15th place at the end of the season, escaping a relegation play-off ahead of VfL Bochum by just better goal difference. For reference for Bundesliga fans, this was the season where Xabi Alonso led Bayer Leverkusen on an unbeaten campaign to the championship title.<\/p>\n

When Eta got her appointment as Union Berlin head coach (not just in charge on matchdays, but for game preparation and other squad management duties as well), there were some who celebrated it as a major step for women in the game of football, undoubtedly so. The left-leaning British publication The Guardian went as far as to call her a \u2018Football Goddess\u2019<\/a> in the headline.<\/p>\n

The situation was not as pressing for Union Berlin as it was in the aforementioned 2023\u20132024. After matchday 29, when their female coach got her commission, they were sitting in 11th place on the table with 32 points collected\u201411 points clear from direct relegation and seven points clear of relegation play-off.<\/p>\n

And Eta\u2019s spell is not working as well either: she started with a 1\u20132 loss to WfL Wolsburg at home, despite Wolsburg sitting in 17th place deep into the relegation zone. Then, just like in 2024, Eta\u2019s Berlin side suffered a two-goal loss in Leipzig, losing 1\u20133 this time.<\/p>\n

Hungarian international midfielder Andr\u00e1s Sch\u00e4fer is getting a front row seat to the feminist football experiment: he has been playing for Union Berlin since January 2022, so he was there for both of Eta\u2019s spells in charge.<\/p>\n

There have already been a handful of successful men\u2019s football coaches who never played professional men\u2019s football.<\/p>\n

Maurizio Sarri is a prime example, who won the Serie A title with Juventus in 2020, then went on to coach the major English Premier League side, Chelsea. His unlikely career trajectory saw him rise from amateur football while working in the banking sector.<\/p>\n

Julian Nagelsmann was on his way to a pro career, but a knee injury suffered at age 19 stopped him in his tracks. He got his first Bundesliga appointment as head coach for Hoffenheim at just age 28\u2014his age and lack of pro experience could have caused just as much turbulence in the dressing room as Eta\u2019s gender. Yet Nagelsmann went on to win a Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich and is currently coaching the German National Team.<\/p>\n

So, overcoming oddities as a coach in professional men\u2019s football is not without precedent.<\/p>\n

Will that include the pride of rich, fit, young men, allowing them to take directions from a 5\u20195 lady, like Eta, at heart, in a game they most likely can play at a much more proficient level than she ever has? Union Berlin has three more games left in their Bundesliga season to prove that it can happen.<\/p>\n

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