Marie-Louise Eta has been appointed head coach of German club Union Berlin, becoming the first woman to hold the role in any of Europe’s top men’s professional leagues.
Eta will lead the Bundesliga side until the end of the season after Steffen Baumgart was sacked. Union parted ways with Baumgart late on Saturday following a 1-3 defeat at bottom-placed Heidenheim, leaving the Berlin club with only two wins in 2026 and in danger of slipping toward the relegation zone.
Eta, who currently coaches Union’s under-19 men’s side, will take charge of the senior team on an interim basis for the remaining five games of the season before moving to become the women’s first-team head coach in the summer.
“We’ve had an absolutely disappointing second half of the season so far,” said Union Director of Sport Horst Heldt. “Two wins out of 14 games since the winter break, and the performances we’ve shown in recent weeks, didn’t give us the confidence that we could turn things around with the existing setup. We’ve therefore decided to start afresh, and I’m delighted that Marie-Louise Eta has agreed to take on this role on an interim basis.”
Eta, 34, takes over immediately. Her first game in charge will be at home to fellow relegation strugglers VfL Wolfsburg next Saturday. “Given the tight situation at the bottom of the table, our survival in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” she said. “One of Union’s strengths has always been the ability to pull together in such situations, so I’m pleased that the club has entrusted this challenging task to me.”
While the interim appointment makes Eta the first woman to officially take charge of a men’s Bundesliga side, she is no stranger to Union’s men’s team. Between November 2023 and May 2024 she assisted Marco Grote when he took interim charge after the dismissal of Urs Fischer. She remained on the coaching staff under Nenad Bjelica, becoming the first-ever female assistant coach in the Champions League in the process.
As a player, Eta — then Marie-Louise Bagehorn — won three Women’s Bundesliga titles and the 2010 Women’s Champions League with Turbine Potsdam. She represented Germany from under-15 to under-23 level, winning the under-17 European Championship in 2008 and the under-20 World Cup in 2010, but ended her playing career at 26 due to a series of injuries.
In February 2023 she completed her UEFA Pro License, the coaching qualification required to take charge of a professional men’s team. Eta is the first woman to take charge of a senior men’s team in England, Spain, Germany, France or Italy — the five leagues widely considered Europe’s best. While women have managed men’s teams in lower divisions before, Eta is the first to take official charge in a top division.
German third-tier club Ingolstadt are currently coached by Sabrina Wittmann, while French second-division club Clermont were managed by Corinne Diacre for three seasons until 2017.
Edited by: Karl Sexton