Marie-Louise Eta has been announced as the new manager of Union Berlin, becoming the first female head coach in Europe’s top five men’s leagues.
Etta has agreed to take over as manager of Union’s women’s team next season, but after agreeing to the interim role, there are five games left to ensure the survival of the men’s Bundesliga.
She made history in 2023 as the first woman to become an assistant coach in the Bundesliga and across the top divisions of Europe’s five major leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga).
“We are pleased that Marie-Louise Eta has agreed to take on this role on an interim basis before taking over as head coach of the women’s first team in the summer as planned,” Union sporting director Horst Herdt said in a statement.
Etta said: “Our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secured, given our point difference in the bottom half of the table.
“I am glad that the club has entrusted me with this difficult task. One of Union’s strengths has been, and will continue to be, its ability to come together in such situations.”
“We are confident that we will secure the important points.”
Eta replaces Steffen Baumgart, who was fired along with assistants Danilo de Sousa and Kevin McKenna after the team lost 3-1 to bottom-placed Heidenheim on Saturday.
The defeat at Heidenheim left Union in 11th place, seven points behind relegation zone St. Pauli, with five games in hand.
Sabrina Whitman talks fear, hope, and a new deal
Sabrina Wittmann is Ingolstadt’s head coach
Adam Bate of Sky Sports:
“I knew I had opened the door a little bit for women,” said Sabrina Wittmann, who became Ingolstadt’s head coach in 2024 when she became the first woman to coach a men’s team in Germany’s third division. “Honestly, I was scared to close the door.”
This confession hints at the weight of responsibility this young woman must have felt as the national media flocked to town to report on this curiosity. “There were so many cameras and media,” she recalls. “That was something new in Ingolstadt.”
Internally, the decision to turn to Wittmann as the club’s new interim head coach that spring felt like a natural choice. She had already coached the U17 and U19 teams and was the third division club’s development director at the time.
After finishing the league season undefeated and also winning the Bayern Cup, Ingolstadt decided to appoint Wittmann as permanent head coach that summer. Almost two years later, she’s still there and just signed a new contract extension.
She feels this is a good opportunity to reflect on what she has learned. “I’m really lucky because there are people here who have never valued me as just a woman, which is probably not that common. And I’ve never had a problem with the players,” she says.
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