Who are the female coaches to have taken charge of men's football teams?

Bundesliga side Union Berlin have made history after appointing Marie-Louise Eta as their new head coach.

They are the first club in Europe’s top five leagues to have a female head coach, with Eta taking the job on an interim basis until the end of the season.

She had previously been the club’s assistant, also making history as the first female to hold that role across Europe’s top five leagues.

England manager Sarina Wiegman said of the appointment: "It's great. She's a trailblazer and I think this was a matter of time anyway.

"Congratulations to her and Berlin. It's exciting. It shows that again football is moving up.

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"There's women in society everywhere and the next step is also in football, male and female."

There will be plenty of interest in Eta’s progress with Union Berlin in the coming weeks, with her first Bundesliga game at home to Wolfsburg on Saturday.

The 34-year-old trailblazer, who previously served as the club's assistant coach and U19 manager, steps in for the final five matches of the season following the dismissal of Steffen Baumgart.

It serves as a landmark appointment marking a defining moment for representation in football as Eta prepares to guide the club through a critical relegation battle before transitioning to lead Union's women's team this summer.

But which other men’s professional clubs have been led by female head coaches? FourFourTwo takes a look.

Sabrina Wittmann (FC Ingolstadt 04, 2024)

Eta is not the first woman to have led a men’s team in Germany. That was achieved by Sabrina Wittman, who took charge of FC Ingolstadt in the third tier in 2024 on an interim basis and then was given the job permanently.

Wittmann, just 34, is still with Ingolstadt, and has a win percentage of 34.78% at the time of writing.

“It’s OK to be the first woman, I’m really proud of it, but in the end I want to be a good coach, I want to be a good manager, I want to be a good human being towards my players,” she said in a recent interview with The Guardian. “It’s about how you want to be seen, not just about being the first.”

Hannah Dingley (Forest Green Rovers, 2023)

There has been no female head coach of a Premier League team yet, but Forest Green made history in 2023 when they appointed Hannah Dingley on an interim basis.

It was a brief stint in July and Dingley did not take charge of any games for the then League Two club, but it was still a significant moment.

“It was a very simple decision,” said Forest Green owner Dale Vince. “Hannah was the most qualified person at the club for the job. Nothing else came into frame.”

She was replaced by David Horseman, before returning to her role as head of academy. She has since gone on to work for the Irish national team and Manchester City.

Corinne Diacre (Clermont Foot, 2014–2017)

For longevity, Corinne Diacre is perhaps the most impressive of the female coaches to have taken charge of men’s teams.

The forthright 51-year-old spent three seasons with Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot from 2014 to 2017, before going on to manage France’s women and Marseille women.