Marie-Louise Eta and the trailblazing women in men’s football | OneFootball

Marie-Louise Eta’s promotion at Union Berlin on Saturday made her the first woman to coach in the Bundesliga and across the Big Five.

In France, Élise Bussaglia is currently the highest-placed woman in the men’s game, at Sedan, who lead the sixth tier. L'Équipe notes that several pioneers have shaped that path over the past 12 years.

Back in 1999, Italy’s Carolina Morace briefly took charge of Viterbese in the third tier for two matches. France then became the first in Europe to hand a men’s professional first team to a woman for the longer term. Clermont appointed Helena Costa in May 2014, but she withdrew just before the restart, and the club turned to Corinne Diacre.

Diacre stayed three seasons at Clermont in the second tier, was named by France Football as coach of the year at that level in 2015, then took over the France women’s national team in summer 2017.

In England, Hannah Dingley became the first woman to manage a professional men’s side when she was appointed interim boss of Forest Green Rovers in July 2023. The 39-year-old Welsh coach, who had led the women’s teams at Lincoln, Nottingham Forest and Leicester, made way for a male successor after 12 days.

In Germany, Sabrina Wittmann, 32, was initially interim at Ingolstadt in May 2024 and was confirmed in June, becoming the first woman to coach a German professional men’s team. She remains in post.

Source: L'Équipe