All eyes will be on Marie-Louise Eta on Saturday as she makes history as the first female head coach of a men’s team in the German Football League, but experts believe this milestone moment should mark the beginning of a long-standing recognition of women’s leadership skills and abilities in a male-dominated sport.
Eta will be in the spotlight when Union Berlin host FC Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, but the pioneering head coach is hoping to shift focus from her unique achievements to the competition once the action begins at the Stadion an der Alten Forsterei.
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“I’m looking forward to the game starting and finally talking about football,” Eta said Thursday in his first pregame press conference as head coach.
“I know this has social impact and importance,” Etta said, but added: “For me it’s always been about football, working with people and what I enjoy the most: being as successful as possible together.”
Eta made headlines last week after becoming the first woman to lead a men’s team in one of Europe’s top five leagues, after the Berlin government handed her the job following the sacking of Steffen Baumgart.
Amidst the media frenzy and recognition of her appointment as a landmark in the role of women in men’s football, those in leadership positions in women’s football are stressing the need to mark this move as a turning point.
“I think the turning point will come when this is not an exception, but just accepted,” soccer expert Yvonne Harrison told Al Jazeera.
“When you look at the experiences of other successful female coaches, especially in the women’s game, you hear they’re the only ones who don’t want to be successful.
“The visibility of successful women in these roles, and especially their inroads into the men’s game, is something we haven’t really seen before.”
Eta is no stranger to making history. She was the first woman to be appointed as an assistant coach in the Bundesliga in 2023, also with Berlin.
For now, the 34-year-old will be in charge of the 11th-placed team for the remainder of the season.
Although her appointment was widely celebrated, it was followed by a similar wave of sexist and derogatory online abuse, which the club union was quick to condemn.
Horst Herdt, Union’s director of men’s professional football, said: “We have 100 per cent trust in Louis, we have complete confidence. I think it’s strange that we have to deal with something like this in this day and age, that we have to justify ourselves.”
Women have also joined the men’s game and taken on various roles despite the backlash.
Stephanie Frappert, Salima Mukasanga and Yoshimi Yamashita have been at the forefront of refereeing men’s games in recent years.
Eta acknowledged that women had blazed a trail before her, noting that she was “far from the first woman to work in men’s professional football”, but also acknowledged those who saw her appointment as having a “signaling effect”.
But Women in Football CEO Harrison said women seemed to be relegated to top-level management roles rather than technical ones.
“We know culturally that women are still vastly underrepresented in these decision-making roles, especially in men’s football,” said Harrison, a sports industry executive who has long campaigned for gender inclusion in football.
She believes that where women were deliberately kept away from the game some 50 years ago, that barrier has been removed, but there is still no clear path for women to follow.
Harrison argues that systems need to be put in place to create an environment conducive to the advancement of women in professional football.
She called for a thorough review to ensure that appointments like Eta’s become mainstream and are made possible through systems rather than just individual resilience and determination.
“Men have a responsibility to contribute to creating the best and most inclusive environment,” Harrison said, adding that men’s football should not be seen as the pinnacle of sporting excellence either.
“I think it’s important to find that balance and push a little bit towards the culture of football, especially in the men’s game, where it’s completely normal and completely accepted for women to be around and they contribute to the success of the game as always,” she added.
“A good coach is a good coach regardless of gender.”
Harrison, an advocate for gender equality, also highlighted the lack of visibility of successful women in such roles, especially in men’s competitions.
The UK-based expert saw “real progress” as a shift in the conversation towards the understanding that competitive environments require the best people for the role, regardless of gender.
Emma Hayes, head coach of the U.S. women’s national team, echoed similar sentiments following Eta’s appointment.
“It’s great that football is finally waking up to the quality of female coaches. A good coach is a good coach, regardless of gender,” said the former Chelsea women’s manager.
Eta will be under intense scrutiny as Union play their final five games of the season, sitting seven points above the relegation play-off places with just two wins since Christmas.
As a player for Turbine Potsdam, Eta won the Champions League in 2010 and three Bundesliga titles. She has already committed to taking over Union Berlin’s women’s Bundesliga team in the coming months.
The initial tug-of-war between the men’s and women’s teams, with Eta caught in the middle, ended with club president Dirk Zingler confirming that Eta would be allowed to quit the men’s team and then head to the other team, where he would fulfill his contract.
