GFootball fans will have to write down this date: 11 April 2026. A few hours after the defeat of Union Berlin against Heidenheim, the German club’s management sacked coach Steffen Baumgart and chose his replacement. Her name is Marie-Louise Etais 34 years old and, with that appointment, has become the first woman to coach a men’s team in one of the five main European leagues. Italian Serie A, English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga: it had never happened.
From player to coach: who is Marie-Louise Eta
Before sitting on the bench, Marie-Louise Eta had had a very respectable playing career. Under the maiden name Bagehorn, she had won three German championships with the Turbine Potsdam e a Champions League in 2010, at just 24 years old. Then came the injuries, one after the other, until the decision to quit at 26.
Marie-Louise Eta in 2024.(Photo by Max Ellerbrake – firo sportphoto/Getty Images)
What seemed like an end point had turned into a new beginning: first the youth sector of Werder Bremen, then the national Under 15 women’s team and the Pro license obtained in 2022the one that authorizes you to coach in the Bundesliga. In 2023 it had already become the first female assistant in the history of the German top division. Now he goes one step further.
The husband, padel and dancing
In Marie-Louise’s life there is Benjamin Etaalso a coach, who leads the RB Leipzig women’s Under-20s. Married since 2014, when she was just 22, they share much more than work. Snowboarding in winterwater sports in summer, padel all year roundcomplete with participation in official mixed tournaments. And then, a detail that says a lot about their personalities, in 2024 they had been to the SemperOpernball in Dresden, one of the most elegant social events in Germany. “We talk a lot about football,” Benjamin admitted in an interview. “But we also have other interests.”
The precedents: very few women, never in the top clubs
Some precedents exist, but always in the lower series: Sabrina Wittmann in the German third series since 2024, Corinne Diacre in the French second division between 2014 and 2017, Carolina Morace at Viterbese in Serie C1 in 1999, which lasted only two days before taking a step back. None, however, had ever managed a club in the top flight of one of the five major European leagues. Until Saturday evening.
The experience as assistant coach of Union Berlin in 2023. (Photo from Mathias Renner / City-Press GmbH Bildagentur via Getty Images)
Marie-Louise Eta: five games to safety
The task that awaits her in this season finale is important. Union Berlin is eleventh with seven points ahead of third from last position and five days to go. A fairly comfortable margin on the relegation zone, but attention is needed. “I am convinced that we will win the crucial points with the team,” said Marie-Louise Eta at the time of her appointment. In the summer, as already planned before this surprise assignment, he will coach the club’s first women’s team. In the meantime, however, he has a month to make football history.
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