You hadn't heard it so clearly from the men's management team at Eintracht Frankfurt: "Frankfurt was the stronghold of women's football - in Germany, but also in Europe.

We want to come back there as a club.” Says Katharina Kiel.

Although she only starts on November 15th as the new technical director for the Eintracht women, she gave an insight on Thursday via club announcement what she will aim for with her work.

Board spokesman Axel Hellmann had often emphasized that the club should become more female at management level.

A first step has now been taken with the commitment of Kiel.

generation change

The former professional player, who is only 30 years old, also embodies a generation change in women's football, as she takes over large parts of the tasks from Siegfried Dietrich, who recently retired from all posts for health reasons.

"As a former player and entrepreneur, Katharina Kiel has all the prerequisites to advance the development of our women's team in the position of technical director," says sports director Markus Krösche, who may have played a leading role in recruiting Kiel.

Their paths crossed, for example, during the "Management in professional football" course initiated by the DFL and DFB, in which Kiel is participating with a scholarship.

Krösche continues: "She knows sporting, business and organizational processes and also has a Frankfurt past with a strong connection to the city and the surrounding area."

“The anticipation is huge”

In 2020, the native of Lower Saxony founded a start-up in Frankfurt that analyzes running.

Eintracht-Frauen players are among her customers.

In addition, Kiel is one of the nine women who last year publicly presented the "Football can do more" initiative, which among other things calls for more women in football management positions.

Kiel had repeatedly emphasized that, as a pioneer and against all odds, she was striving for a management position in men's football.

Now it has become the position of technical director at a top Bundesliga club.

“The anticipation is huge.

There are a variety of topics, for example in infrastructure and squad management, that I will tackle," says Kiel.

Head coach Niko Arnautis will continue to play the role of sports director after Dietrich's retirement.

For the time being, the shortcoming in the Eintracht structure will remain that there is not enough expertise and resources for an overview of international women's football events.

The last two foreign commitments, for example, flopped.

Opportunities appeared to have been missed in the transfer market.

Katharina Kiel has had an unusual sporting career.

She played ice hockey in Frankfurt until she was 15 and was also active internationally.

She then switched to soccer, joining 1. FFC Frankfurt and quickly moving up to the second team in the Second Bundesliga.

First league appearances in Bad Neuenahr and Hoffenheim followed later, but her active time was also marked by serious knee injuries (two cruciate ligament tears) and ended early at the age of 25.

Kiel then studied education and sports in Frankfurt.

An important question that should have been high on the new sports director's list of priorities was clarified before she even started work.

From now on, the Bundesliga women will hold their training sessions like the men on the pitches at the arena in the city forest and no longer on the Rebstock sports facility.

Arnautis spoke of a "very significant" step for the team.