3rd league
First female head coach in German men’s professional football: Sabrina Wittmann takes over at FC Ingolstadt
A novelty in men’s football: With Sabrina Wittmann as head coach of FC Ingolstadt, a woman is coaching a professional team for the first time
© Stefan Bösl / Imago Images
Three game days before the end of the season, FC Ingolstadt parted ways with coach Michael Köllner. U19 coach Sabrina Wittmann takes over. This has never happened before in professional football!
FC Ingolstadt is creating a novelty in the 3rd football league. The Schanzer parted ways with coach Michael Köllner (54) on Thursday and made U19 coach Sabrina Wittmann their interim successor until the end of the season.
Inka Grings (SV Straelen) and Imke Wübbenhorst (Sportfreunde Lotte) had already done so once Men’s fourth division teams trained. The 32-year-old Wittmann is now taking over for a men’s team in the third highest German class. She is supported by her long-time assistant coach Fabian Reichler as well as the previous coaching team around Maniyel Nergiz and Julian Kolbeck.
Managing Director: Sabrina Wittmann is “exactly the right person”
“Sabrina Wittmann probably knows our club better than almost anyone else and is a Schanzer through and through. As the acting head coach of our very successful U19, she has continuously developed over the past few years – both professionally and personally – and rightly enjoys the utmost respect from everyone in the club high priority,” explained managing director Dietmar Beiersdorfer.
“We are convinced that Sabrina is exactly the right person to bring our first team’s season to a positive end due to her expertise in teaching football and also thanks to her emotionality.”
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New coach at FC Ingolstadt for next season still unclear
Köllner took over the Ingolstadt-based company in April 2023. This season, the team that actually wanted to be promoted is only in mid-table with three game days to go. It is still unclear who will take over FC Ingolstadt for next season.
“After the further sporting development of our team, which is necessary to achieve our goals, has largely failed to materialize in 2024, we have come to the decision after a detailed analysis of the sporting content and discussions with Michael Köllner that we would like to take on the position of head coach for “We have to make a change for the 2024/25 season,” explained Beiersdorfer.