Interview: First stock take on our women's Bundesliga start | OneFootball

Bernd Winkler and Dusan Pavlovic in conversation

The first half of the regular season in the ADMIRAL Women's Bundesliga is over, and our girls have made an immediate impression in our debut season, not only by taking two convincing wins in a row. What exactly is the current status? We sat down for a double interview with Bernd Winkler, head of our women's football department, and head coach Dusan Pavlovic to discuss their first few months in the ÖFB Women's Bundesliga and the associated expectations for our young team.

Double interview with Bernd Winkler and Dusan Pavlovic

First question - how would you summarise the season so far?

Bernd: "Very satisfactory! I'd even go so far as to say we at least met, if not exceeded, our expectations."

Dusan: "I would describe it as largely ideal. Our expectations have definitely been met. From a coaching perspective, you can always expect a little more, of course, and in that respect, I think it's a shame that we came away without any points in the games against top teams like St. Pölten, despite our good performances."

With a place in the championship group currently within reach, what are the internal expectations, and how have they developed over the course of the first half of the season?

Bernd: "The expectation is that we first establish ourselves in the league and initially place ourselves in mid-table – that was what we set out to do before the season. So, not much has changed, except for the fact that we've seen that the path to the next step isn't that far away."

Dusan: "In the games against St. Pölten and the like, we also saw that we could have achieved even more. These are the experiences we need to gain so that we can continue to move up."

Our team is comparatively young and – as you mentioned – suffered a few big setbacks early in the season. How did the girls handle that, Dusan?

Dusan: "Really well, especially for their young age! You see often enough in professional sports that it's not a given that teams can simply get over such setbacks and keep going – but we, or rather the girls, did that really well! Just last week against Hartberg, we conceded a goal out of nowhere after taking a 2-0 lead. It took us maybe a minute, and then the girls were back on the attack, so I have to praise the team."

What kind of football or style of play can our fans expect in the Women's Bundesliga?

Dusan: "We have a very clear way of playing. We play with intensity and defend positively. We've already made some really good steps in our development. It may be our first Bundesliga season, but we're already moving quite well within the plan we want to implement on the pitch, even though we obviously have our points where we still need to improve."

Bernd Winkler

How did the start of our debut Bundesliga season go, and what insights have we gained over the past few weeks and months?

Bernd: "Overall, it's been extremely positive! We've managed to introduce girls from our U16 team to the Bundesliga in a short space of time. The idea from the very beginning was to bring Salzburg girls into the Bundesliga so they could play an important role there. Of course, I was very excited before the season to see how it would all work out. Just recently against Hartberg, we had three 16-year-olds in the starting lineup, which is still very, very young for the Women's Bundesliga."

Bernd Winkler

And off the pitch?

Bernd: "Of course, we had to do some homework beforehand, and I'm really pleased with how well everything is going. You can also see that our entry is already having a huge impact, because it's simply something different for the teams when FC Red Bull Salzburg visit. Right from the start, we received several requests from ORF and the Bundesliga for live games, significantly more than in recent years with our partner club Bergheim, for example. The home games are also just incredibly cool! The opening game in particular was a real football festival. I received a lot of positive feedback from fans, who said they really enjoyed the whole experience and the positive atmosphere. I can 100% recommend everyone to come to one of our home games at the academy!"

Dusan Pavlovic

Dusan, what does it mean to you personally to be the head coach of our first ever women's Bundesliga team?

Dusan: "I'm just incredibly lucky to be here from the very beginning, starting from U16 level. It's obviously a really cool thing, and I'm very grateful to the club for giving me the opportunity to take this step. It's definitely a privilege to be here with the entire coaching team and staff, along with Isabella [Schweighofer] and the others. They're a great group on and off the pitch! And what makes me happiest is seeing the players doing well and continuing to develop."

After this weekend, the women's international break is upon us – how far can our go with their nationals teams?

Bernd: "We're delighted that, in addition to several players on the Austrian U19 national team, we have two senior internationals for Bosnia, Aldina Hamzic and Vina Crnoja, as well as Lucia Orkic on the Croatian national team. Four players are also expected to be called up to the Austrian national team, including Sara Grabovac, who is just 16 years old! Especially for the Austrian national team, it's a huge step to have players from our own league. In the past, they were essentially just foreign players, and that shows that there's already a positive development here."

Bernd, you've been leading the women's football project at our club for three years now, from the very beginning, and have been part of the entire development from a pure U16 team to the Bundesliga. Where will women's football be at our club in three years?

Bernd: "That's an interesting question! The last few years have been very rapid in terms of development. I think the next steps forward will be a bit slower now that we've created the structure with the three teams. If we continue to work so consistently and the coaching team around Dusan does it so well, we'll be able to take further steps forward though. Let's talk about it again in three years!"

Finally, a question for both of you: What will it take for you to say at the end: "That was a successful first season!"

Bernd: "Well, if the season were to end today with our current position in the table, then would definitely be a positive debut season – one hundred percent."

Dusan: "From my point of view, too! Above all, I would hope that we manage to get points against one of the top four or three teams - then I would be completely happy!"

Home match at academy on Friday evening

Your next chance to see our women's team live in the Bundesliga is this Friday! At 19:00 CEST, our girls will host BW Linz/Kleinmünchen in a home clash at the academy. Admission is free, as always!