The all-female cast shaking up German football: TCD and Fußball-Woche meet FC Viktoria Berlin
You can read the German translation of this article by clicking here to visit the Fußball-Woche website.
There is a distinctly suburban feel to the neighbourhood that surrounds FC Viktoria Berlin’s Stadion Lichterfelde. At this time of year, as Berlin’s brutal winter creeps in, you can expect to find it covered by a faint blanket of snow. The south-western district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, a 30-something minute journey from the centre of the German capital, is home to one of its most fearless football clubs.
After splitting from the men’s team in the summer of 2022, the stated aim of the newly formed female iteration of FC Viktoria Berlin was clear: climb from the third division to the Frauen Bundesliga within five years and sustainably transform women’s sport across Germany. It was decidedly bold.
Photo: Kai Heuser. @heuserkampf
Two-and-a-half years on, and having shaken off two agonising near-misses at promotion into the second division, FC Viktoria Berlin are hoping that third time’s a charm. As the Regionalliga Nordost enters the winter break, they’ve won nine out of their opening 10 games, sitting three points behind leaders RB Leipzig II – having played a game less. There is cause to be positive.
“I’m very optimistic we will achieve promotion, but every game presents its own challenge, and we have to face those repeatedly”, explains Catharina Schimpf, the club’s Sporting Director. “We can be very pleased with how the season has gone so far”.
It’s easy to see why. Last season, FC Viktoria Berlin were edged out by an impressive Union Berlin team that also inflicted a painful extra-time defeat to the West Berliners in the final of the Berliner Pokal. The club’s impressive ability to bounce back from that disappointment and attack the division with their fierce brand of football, once again, is indicative of strong foundations and a special spirit.
Throughout their transformation from a trailblazing breakaway team to consistent challengers there has remained a refreshing clarity to their ambition – a spark that keeps the hunger alive.
But when their founding principle is already revolutionary, it’s easy to see how the club maintains that thirst for progress. “Which clubs do you know that are founded by six women?”, asks former Germany international and double World Cup-winner Ariane Hingst. “It doesn’t exist!”
The six co-founders of FC Viktoria Berlin. From left to right: Tanja Wielgoss, Lisa Wahrer, Verena Pausder, Ariane Hingst, Katharina Kurz, Felicia Mutterer. Photo: Filiz Serinyel.
As one of those six co-founders, and an unequivocal legend of the women’s game in Germany and beyond, Hingst is well-versed in the challenges they’re up against. “We’re going down a path that no-one has done before,” she admits. “There is nothing for us to compare ourselves to.”
That “path” refers to the club’s unique way of operating. By tackling both the everyday and long-term challenges of running a football club with what Hingst calls a “start-up mentality”, they’re able to break outside of the game’s long-standing conventions and approach problems with the kind of freshness required to meaningfully advance the women’s game. In 2022, their home game against fellow Berlin side Türkiyemspor was the first game from the third division to ever be broadcasted on TV. It fetched an audience of over 180,000. “The way it was presented”, says Hingst, “with halftime reports, interviews, celebrities – it was a total success.” Its significance is something she remembers fondly. “I think it was important to increase the visibility of women’s football. You can’t be it if you can’t see it.”
The club is given a platform to function in this way thanks to its broad network of mostly female (over 90%) investors – from start-up entrepreneurs to Olympic champions to stars of the arts. Their foundations rest on widespread buy-in from people in media, local politics, social movements and of course the thriving women’s football scene of Berlin.
In November, the club announced that their latest round of funding secured an additional 700,000 EUR, taking their total number of investors to 246. They also announced their “first steps towards internationalisation”: conducting all social media, communications and website activity in German and English; enabling worldwide shipping; and appearing at international conferences and panels. There appears to be no slowing down.
Lofty social, international and sporting ambitions aside, perhaps FC Viktoria Berlin’s biggest achievement to date is creating an environment where the club’s ethos cascades down to the players.
Photo: Julia Haake.
For club captain Anouk Dekker, who signed in September 2023 together with Laura Casanovas Diaz from SC Braga, that was clear from the outset. “The mission to provide a pathway for female players to become professionals and eventually reach the Frauen Bundesliga is inspiring”.
Dekker’s arrival added a wealth of experience to the club, having made 87 appearances for The Netherlands in a span that included glory at Euro 2017. She became an instant leader in the squad, and anchors statistically the best defence in the league. “We have an incredibly talented group of players”, she explains. “They all want to improve and develop their skills as footballers.”
The club seems to have struck a healthy balance of youth and experience, while a raft of new signings fresh for this season – including Palestine national team forward Nour Youssef from Union Berlin – have elevated the talent in the squad. For Schimpf, this is a huge mark of success: “The squad was very well assembled before the season and is absolutely second-division worthy”.
In the same period since their re-founding, the growth of the regional women’s league has been nothing short of mesmerising. Last season saw an explosion of interest and attendances, and that trend has continued. “This competitive drive,” adds Dekker, “is raising the overall level of the game in the city.”
2,100 fans attended the West Berlin derby vs. Hertha BSC. Photo: Kai Heuser. @heuserkampf
At Stadion Lichterfelde, the buzz is palpable on every matchday. “It’s great to see the enthusiasm from fans and the broader FC Viktoria Berlin community, which adds so much energy to every game”, she continues.
Across the women’s game in Berlin, there has been a conscious effort to create welcoming, respectful and inclusive atmospheres that still reflect the competitive spirit on the pitch, in the stands. Regularly high attendances – over 2,100 fans turned out to the club’s last home game against Hertha BSC – speak to the success of that league-wide endeavour. When February rolls around, and the business of securing promotion comes into ever-sharper focus, it’s clear those figures will continue to rise.
In under three years, FC Viktoria Berlin have risen from a plucky start-up to a serious footballing force in the capital. The club’s unflinching convictions have already shaken up the landscape of women’s football in Germany and beyond. However this season ends, that’s a legacy few clubs get to define.
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