First woman to coach German top men’s team sparks Dutch debate on women in soccer
The appointment of Marie-Louise Eta as interim head coach of Union Berlin’s men’s team has triggered a wider debate in the Netherlands about whether a woman could soon lead a men’s professional soccer team here, NU.nl reports. While some Dutch experts call it a “logical development," they also warn that there is still entrenched resistance in men’s football.
Eta, 34, became the first female head coach of a men’s team in a major European league after replacing Steffen Baumgart at Union Berlin. She will lead Union Berlin’s men’s team for five matches in the Bundesliga, starting Saturday against VfL Wolfsburg, before taking over the club’s women’s team after the season.
Her appointment triggered a wave of sexist online reactions in Germany, including comments questioning whether men would take tactical instructions from a woman seriously. Union Berlin condemned the response as “sexism” and said it was “stunned” by the volume of abuse. Club director Horst Heldt defended Eta, describing her as “a very competent leader.”
In the Netherlands, the reaction has focused less on surprise and more on timing and structural barriers within men’s soccer. Sports sociologist Agnes Elling of the Mulier Institute described the appointment as part of a gradual shift. “This is a logical development,” she told NU.nl “Women are making an advance in men’s sports, just as in management positions. But in that respect, we are still behind Germany. In the Netherlands, there are still very few female coaches in top-level men’s sport.”
Elling said the underrepresentation of women is linked to how sport is structured. “Most sports were invented for and by men,” she said. “In that kind of male environment, an average man is more likely to get opportunities than a woman, even in roles where physical differences do not matter,” she said. “The women who do break through are usually very competent.”
Oranje-Rood hockey coach Ageeth Boomgaardt in Eindhoven called Eta’s appointment “a historic step.” “Her appointment and the attention around it show that this development is not self-evident,” she said.
Landstede Hammers basketball coach Gaëlle Bouzin in Zwolle said the broader attention reflects how unusual such appointments still are. “The fact that so much is being said and written about it shows there is still a lot to gain,” she said. “In the United States, people would react less strongly.”
Both said they had experienced little direct resistance in their own careers, though they acknowledged that soccer carries far greater public scrutiny. Bouzin said, “I did not receive negative reactions in person. That will likely be the same for Eta. Online, everyone has an opinion. She should not let that affect her.”
Elling said hostility is likely if a similar appointment were made in Dutch men’s soccer. “You will get a lot of crap thrown at you,” she said. “You just have to be willing to deal with that.” She referenced media analyst Leonne Stentler, who faced backlash when working in men’s soccer analysis, as an example of lingering attitudes that men’s soccer is still “ours.”
Eta herself has dismissed the online criticism, saying it reflects more on those posting it than on her. She said she hopes her role will have a broader impact. “Maybe I can open doors for young girls by showing what is possible,” she said.
