Borussia Dortmund introduce head coach, stadium, advisors for Women’s Team

Borussia Dortmund will finally have a women’s football team starting from next season. As announced in September, the Black and Yellows will start from the eighth division of German football and look to grow organically from there. Svenja Schlenker, who is the department head for women’s football at Borussia Dortmund, has now finalised the appointment of the team’s head coach and sporting advisors.

According to Ruhr Nachrichten, Thomas Sulewski will be the head coach of the Borussia Dortmund Women’s Team. The 30 year old hails from Dortmund, and most recently led local club SV Berghofen to promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. Sulewski will be joined by assistant coaches Tim Treude and Dustin Wurst.

Schlenker has also confirmed the appointments of World Cup winner and Olympic Gold Medalist Annike Krahn, as well as former Borussia Dortmund player Christian Timm. The duo will work as sporting advisors, and will be involved with the running of the team. Both Krahn and Timm have many years of experience of working in women’s football.

Borussia Dortmund are aiming to have a squad of 20-22 players for their first season. However, the process of organising trials and putting a team together has been made difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic. The season is due to get underway in July, and the plan is to put together a squad and start training as soon as possible.

The Black and Yellows will play in the Kreisliga A (eighth division of German football) and grow organically from there. The aim is to earn promotion to the Bundesliga within the next decade. The team will play its home games at the Stadion Rote Erde in Dortmund.

In addition to establishing a Women’s Football Team, Borussia Dortmund are also planning to put forward the Signal Iduna Park as a venue for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup if Germany wins the bid to host the tournament.