Following the shock Saturday evening sacking of head coach Steffen Baumgart, Union Berlin have confirmed that they will once again be turning to trailblazing female head coach Marie-Louise Eta to serve in an interim role. The news of Baumgart’s sacking – released shortly before midnight – was coupled with statements from managing director Horst Heldt and Eta herself on the 34-year-old’s appointment.
Who is Marie-Louise Eta?
Get German Football News has provided some details on Eta’s work with Union on an interim basis during the 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign in a previous article covering the work of both Eta and her 3. Liga fellow trailblazer Sabrina Wittmann. Eta co-coached the team alongside former colleague Marco Grote to help bridge the gaps between the coaching regimes of Urs Fischer and Nenad Bjelica.
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Eta didn’t coach the men’s team alone during those spans, but did feature as Union’s lone representative at several press conferences. Since stepping back from the limelight, Eta has coached the FCU U19s and is due to take over the Union Berlin women’s team this summer. The FCU women were recently professionally revamped and earned promotion to the FrauenBundesliga.
How will Eta make history?
This appointment officially installs Eta as the interim head coach, not an assistant. Technically speaking, this is a first for the Bundesliga. No woman has ever worked the touchline of a German top flight men’s club. Those journalists who observed Eta during the 2023/24 season will still add the asterisk that she did essentially serve as Grote’s equal both on the pitch and off two plus years ago.
Eta’s future work won’t entirely be novel.
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Eta’s statement on her appointment
“Staying in the Bundesliga is not yet secured given the point gaps in the lower half of the table,” Eta noted her club statement. “One of Union’s strengths has always been to pool all our resources together in such situations. And of course, I am convinced that we will secure the decisive points with the team.”