History Being Made:
Union's Women's First Ever Bundesliga Appearance
With the home game against 1. FC Nürnberg at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, the women’s team of 1. FC Union Berlin will celebrate their Bundesliga debut. Kick off in the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga season-opener is at 18:30.
The lie of the land
Nürnberg are coming off the back of a busy pre-season. They celebrated victories against SK Heuchling and AC Milan, but were defeated by Stuttgart, Zurich, Köln, Lyon and, rounding everything off at their Herzogenaurach training camp, against Hoffenheim.
Union meanwhile completed their own intensive summer preparation programme, which centred on a training camp in Klosterpforte in August. Highlights included victories against Pogoń Szczecin (2-1) and VfL Wolfsburg (2-0). Further friendlies followed with a 3-1 home loss to Real Madrid and the 1-0 loss against Aston in their first ever game on English soil.
Sunday’s guests celebrated their first promotion to the Bundesliga in the 1998/99 season but were relegated again in 2003. After several years in the 2. Bundesliga, they were promoted again in 2022/23 but were relegated again after only one season. In 2024/25, they finally secured their return to the Women's Bundesliga, finishing level on points (though behind on goal difference) with Union.
Coach Thomas Oostendorp has notably strengthened his team. New additions to the squad include goalkeepers Larissa Rusek and Lourdes Romero, midfielders Laura Miller, Sanja Homann and Selma Licina, as well as Polish international defender Oliwia Woś.
The two sides have met three times so far, with one win each and a draw. in the summer of 2023, Nuremberg won a friendly 3-2, followed by a 0-0 draw in the 2024/25 2. Bundesliga. Union won the second league encounter 4-0 at home.
Not only do the clubs share a similar success story from last season, but their stories are also connected by Nele Bauereisen. She signed for 1. FC Nürnberg for the 2021/22 season, scoring six goals in 15 games in her second season in the second division and thus contributed significantly to the club's promotion to the Bundesliga. After 17 Bundesliga appearances, she was relegated back to the 2. Bundesliga with the club before moving to Köpenick at the beginning of this calendar year.
Union's coaching staff will have to do without the services of Leonie Köster, Hannah Eurlings, Fatma Şakar and Antonia Halverkamps on Sunday evening.
“We would love to be on the pitch tomorrow," said Union's head coach, Ailien Poese, during her press conference on Friday afternoon. "The anticipation for our first Bundesliga game is immense. We have had an intensive training week behind us, during which we not only worked hard but also had a lot of fun. Nürnberg are a team that are strong in transition and that consistently find good solutions with the ball. But we are determined to keep the three points here in Berlin in our historic first Bundesliga game.”
Tickets for the match are on open sale in all Union's Zeughaus stores as well as online. The Stadion An der Alten Försterei opens its gates and ticket office at 16:30. For school-age children, Union have a surprise in store.
There are remaining parking spaces available in front of the main stand, the parking fee is €8.
The match will be broadcast live on Magenta Sport and DAZN. Additionally, Union will inform, as usual, via the club's own live ticker about the match.
