Marie-Louise Becomes Union Berlin’s Male Team Coach  

Marie-Louise Eta, a former UEFA Women’s Champions League winner, has been appointed as the interim head coach of Union Berlin’s male team. She will manage the team for the remainder of the 2025/2026 football session.

Marie-Louise Eta, a former UEFA Women’s Champions League winner, has been appointed as the interim head coach of Union Berlin’s male team. Her appointment occurred on Sunday, April 12, 2026, after the club’s 3-1 defeat on Saturday.

Marie-Louise is a respected coach who made history in November 2023 as the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history. She was also a former German youth international and UEFA Women’s Champions League winner with Turbine Potsdam in 2010. In January 2024, she became the first woman to lead a Bundesliga team from the touchline during a match against Darmstadt while deputising for a suspended manager. Before her recent appointment, she managed the Union Berlin Under-19 (U19) men’s team, securing 13 wins out of 22 matches.

“I’m delighted that Marie Louise Eta has agreed to take on this role on an interim basis before she becomes head coach of the women’s first team as planned in the summer,” Union sporting director Horst Heldt said in a statement.

Speaking on her appointment, the football player said, “I am delighted the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.

“I am convinced that we will secure the crucial points,” she added. 

Notably, Marie-Louise will be the first woman to lead and manage a male team in one of Europe’s top five football leagues. She will carry out this duty for the remainder of the 2025/26 season. Afterwards, she will transition to her planned role as head coach of Union Berlin’s women’s team in the summer of 2026. Her first match in charge will be against VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday, 18 April.