June 28, 2020, was a special day for 1. FFC Frankfurt women club when the club played its last game in the women’s Bundesliga. The game was the end of an era for Germany’s most successful women’s football club after seven championship titles, nine DFB women’s cup wins and four UEFA Women’s Champions League wins.
1. FFC Frankfurt Women Club
Birgit Prinz, Nadine Angerer, Saskia Bartusiak, Melanie Behringer, Nia Kunzer and Steffi Jones are just a few of the big names that have attracted the Frankfurt jersey over the years.
The merger of the club with Eintracht Frankfurt opens a whole new chapter. As of next season, the 1st FFC will become Eintracht’s women’s football division and will compete in the Bundesliga under the name Eintracht Frankfurt. The two parties signed a corresponding merger agreement in mid-June 2019.
The newly founded club hopes to achieve old successes by combining the soccer activities of its women and girls. The FFC last won the league in 2008 and won their last big trophy in 2015 when they defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final.
“I am very happy and grateful that the ‘marriage contract’ with Eintracht Frankfurt has now been signed after a long and extremely concentrated preparation period,” said long-time FFC manager Siegfried Dietrich on the club’s website.
“After more than two decades of success for FFC, it is a dream for us not only to incorporate our specialist knowledge, but also our employees, members and fans into this large Eintracht family and to settle in our impressive new home.” the right time.
“However, the signing of the merger agreement is also a historic and groundbreaking moment that not only gives our life’s work a future full of new goals, but also sends out a convincing message in relation to German women’s club football and the competitiveness of the women’s Bundesliga.
Heute nehmen bei Eintracht Frankfurt gleichzeitig vier zukunftsträchtige Umstrukturierungsmaßnahmen offiziell Fahrt auf. Eine davon ist der Frauenfußball 💪#SGE #EintrachtFrauen
— Eintracht Frankfurt (@Eintracht) July 1, 2020
“Although the transition and emotions when playing our last games in the FFC jersey are certainly a little wistful, the excitement about our new goals and the new era of women’s football in Frankfurt is much greater.”
Plans to strengthen the squad are already in full swing. German goalkeeper Merle Frohms moves from SC Freiburg to the banks of the Main, while Slovenian international Lara Prasnikar comes from Turbine Potsdam. FFC’s second division clubs, who were unable to end their season due to the coronavirus pandemic, have also resumed training – in Eintracht jerseys.
“The opening season will be a very special one as something new starts here,” said coach Kim Kulig. “We have been looking forward to it for weeks, and now wearing the eagle on our chest really means opening a new chapter.
Towards New Horizons
This pioneering spirit can be seen not only in Frankfurt, but also in Gelsenkirchen and especially at FC Schalke 04, where the club wants to build a whole women’s and girls’ soccer setup. They start “small” at Schalke and do not expect to compete with the existing women’s football departments of other clubs. As a result, the club will have a women’s team in county league B and a U-17 team in county league.
Bodo Menze, former founder and director of the Knappenschmiede youth academy at Schalke, is responsible for this project. “My attitude to women’s football has changed over time,” he said.
“In the end, I was really impressed and impressed by the performance at the last Women’s World Cup. I also think that this is extremely relevant for society – also for mass sports. I shared the idea of setting up a women’s football department some time ago, so I’m happy I now very much support this project, “Menze explained on the Schalke website.
Exciting times are ahead of us for women’s football – and not just in Germany, where six clubs now have top-class teams of women and men. Real Madrid will be putting Spain’s top league side up for the first time next season