Why Marie-Louise Eta’s appointment should be the norm, not the exception | Soccer News

All eyes will be on Marie-Louise Eta on Saturday when she makes history as the first female head coach of a men’s team in the German soccer league, but experts believe the milestone moment should serve as the start of long overdue recognition for women’s leadership skills and abilities in a sport dominated by men.

Eta will be in the spotlight when Union Berlin host FC Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, but the pioneering head coach wants the focus to shift away from his unique performance and onto the game once the action gets underway at the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei.

“I’m looking forward to the game starting and when it’s finally about football,” Eta said in her first pre-game news conference as head coach on Thursday.

“I know it has a social impact and meaning,” Eta said, but added: “For me it’s always been about football, working with people, and about what I enjoy most: being as successful as possible together.”

Eta made headlines last week when Berlin entrusted her with the job following the sacking of Steffen Baumgart, making her the first woman to lead a men’s team in one of Europe’s top five football leagues.

Amid the media frenzy and recognition of her appointment as a breakthrough for women’s role in men’s football, leading voices in women’s football have highlighted the need to mark this move as a watershed moment.

“I think the turning point will come when it’s not the exception, it’s just accepted,” soccer expert Yvonne Harrison told Al Jazeera.

“When we look at the experiences of other successful female coaches, especially in the women’s game, we hear that they don’t want to be the only ones.

“The visibility of successful women in these roles, especially moving into the men’s game, is something we haven’t seen a huge amount of.”

Eta is no stranger to making history. She was the first woman to be appointed assistant coach in the Bundesliga in 2023, also with Berlin.

The 34-year-old will take over for the 11th team for the rest of the season.

While her appointment was widely celebrated, it was followed in equal parts by sexist and derogatory online abuse, which the Union Club quickly denounced.

“We have 100 percent confidence in Loui, with full conviction. I think it’s crazy that we have to deal with this in this day and age, that we have to justify ourselves,” Union’s director of men’s professional soccer, Horst Heldt, said.

Women were part of the men’s game and took on various roles despite backlash.

Stephanie Frappart, Salima Mukasanga and Yoshimi Yamashita have led the way in refereeing men’s matches in recent years.

Eta acknowledged that the women paved the way before her, noting that she was “far from the first woman to work in professional men’s football”, while also acknowledging those who see her appointment as a “signal effect”.

However, according to Harrison, who is the chief executive of Women in Football, women seem to be more relegated to administrative roles at the top level than the technical side.

“Women are still vastly underrepresented in those decision-making roles, and we know that culturally, especially within men’s soccer,” said Harrison, a sports industry executive who has long called for gender inclusivity in soccer.

She believes that where women were once deliberately kept out of the game 50 years ago, those barriers have been removed, but there are still no clear paths for them to follow.

Harrison insists that a system must be in place to help build a conducive environment for women’s advancement in professional soccer.

She called for a review to ensure that appointments like Etas are mainstreamed and materialize because of the system and not just because of an individual’s resilience and determination.

“Men have a responsibility to be able to help create the best and most inclusive environments,” Harrison said, adding that men’s soccer should not be seen as the pinnacle of sporting excellence either.

“I think it’s about finding that balance and helping to push that culture of football, especially within the men’s game, that women are completely normal, completely acceptable, and they contribute as they always have to the success of the game,” she added.

“A good coach is a good coach regardless of gender”

Harrison, who is an advocate for gender equality, also highlighted the lack of visibility of successful women in such roles, especially in the male game.

The UK-based expert equated “real progress” to a shift in conversation towards the understanding that highly competitive environments require the best person for the role, regardless of gender.

United States Women’s National Team Head Coach Emma Hayes echoed a similar sentiment following Eta’s appointment.

“It’s fantastic to see the football world finally waking up to the quality of female coaches. A good coach is a good coach regardless of gender,” said the former Chelsea Women manager.

Eta will be under close scrutiny as Union play their remaining five games of the season, having won just two games since Christmas and are seven points above the relegation play-off places.

As a player with Turbine Potsdam, Eta won the Champions League in 2010, along with three Bundesliga titles. She has already committed to taking over Union Berlin’s Bundesliga women’s team in a few months.

The initial tug-of-war between the men’s and women’s teams that Eta was caught between ended when club president Dirk Zingler confirmed that Eta would end up with the men’s team, before leaving for their counterparts and honoring her contract there.